But there is consensus among senior White House aides that the president is in a bind. If he publicly calls on him to withdraw and Moore demurs — or, worse for Trump, wins the race nevertheless — the president could suffer another embarrassment in Alabama. Yet continued silence from Trump may not be tenable.

“There are no good options,” said one White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter…

Inside the West Wing, presidential advisers believe that every time McConnell calls on Moore to withdraw, he may be motivating voters in Alabama to, as one official put it, raise a collective middle finger to Washington. Trump’s advisers worry that condemnations from the president could only exacerbate the dynamic.