Donald Trump deletes tweets backing Luther Strange minutes after he loses Alabama Senate race

Mike Pence declares himself 'thrilled' by victory of candidate he also did not support

President Donald Trump apparently deleted tweets showing he had supported a losing candidate (REUTERS)

Donald Trump appears to have deleted tweets endorsing the establishment candidate Luther Strange in Alabama’s senate run-off, who was convincingly beaten in Tuesday's vote.

Mr Strange lost by nine points to Roy Moore, a controversial former judge, in the race for the Republican nomination to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old seat.

On polling day Mr Trump exhorted voters to back Mr Strange, saying: “He has proven to me that he will never let you down! #MAGA.” He and his vice president Mike Pence had both made strong pushes in support of the former state prosecutor.

Following Mr Moore’s victory—widely seen as a blow to the Washington DC establishment that poured millions into opposing him—that and similar messages no longer exist on Twitter. Some older Trump tweets backing Mr Strange do remain live.

Mr Trump and Mr Pence, who had spoken in support of Mr Strange at an eve-of-election rally in Birmingham, have since congratulated Mr Moore on his victory.

Mr Pence chose not to delete his most recent pro-Strange tweet, which sits directly below the message of congratulations in his feed. He wrote: “Congratulations Roy Moore! We are thrilled you ran on the #MAGA agenda & we are for you!”

Mr Trump said: “Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!”

Vice President Mike Pence moved quickly to show support for Roy Moore, the candidate he did not back in Alabama’s senate run-off (Twitter/The Independent)

Mr Moore, 70, was twice elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and twice removed from duty.

In 2003, he was ejected from office for disobeying a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse lobby, in violation of the US Constitution’s establishment clause that separates church and state.

Last year, he was permanently suspended after a disciplinary panel ruled he had urged probate judges to defy federal court decisions on gay marriage and deny wedding licences to same-sex couples, an accusation he denied.

After his victory he told supporters in Montgomery: “We have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress.”

In defeat, Mr Strange admitted that “we’re dealing with a political environment that I’ve never had any experience with”. Arrayed against him were campaigners including Mr Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, who saw the evangelical Mr Moore as the anti-establishment candidate.

The Breitbart co-founder had told a crowd the night before the vote: “We did not come here to defy Donald Trump. We came here to praise and honour him.

“We believe in America first, and conservatism because we oppose progressives and everything they stand for.”

Voting for Mr Moore would “show what you think of the elite who are running our country,” he added.

Mr Moore will go on to face Democrat Doug Jones in a new vote in December.

Mr Jones is a former US attorney known for prosecuting the Klansmen who killed four girls in a 1963 church bombing.

Additional reporting by agencies