Roy Moore's claim that America was 'great' during slavery resurfaces, sparking huge backlash

Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore has sparked outrage among many on the left once again after his comments on slavery from a campaign event earlier this year resurfaced this week.

At the event, which took place when Moore was still facing fellow Republican Luther Strange for the party's nomination, an audience member asked Moore the last time America was great.

"I think it was great at the time when families were united -- even though we had slavery -- they cared for one another ... Our families were strong, our country had a direction," Moore responded, according to the Los Angeles Times.

SEE ALSO: Democrats turn on one of their own to try to take down Moore

His reference to slavery appears to indicate that Moore believes that America was last great before the Civil War. As many progressives on Twitter noted, while some American families may have been intact during this era, slave families were routinely broken up and as members were sold for profit.

The report also noted that the question was asked by one of only a handful of black people who had attended the event.

The comments were initially reported in September but went viral on Thursday when a former Obama administration official tweeted about them.

"Can't make this up—Roy Moore said in September that the last time America was great was when we had slavery," Eric Columbus said in his tweet.

SEE ALSO: Obama blamed for slave trade in African country as shocking video goes viral

The resurfaced comments sparked further backlash on Twitter, especially from progressives, some of whom suggested the slavery remarks were even more disturbing than the sexual assault allegations.

The renewed scrutiny on the opinion comes as Moore is locked in a close race with Democrat Doug Jones to see who will become the next member of the U.S. Senate to represent Alabama. Republicans Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions were both elected in the 1990s, and Luther Strange has been serving in Sessions' place since he was named Attorney General earlier this year.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for voters to support Moore over "liberal" Jones. He did not reference the slavery comments but tweeted his support once again Friday.

SEE MORE: Roy Moore's first accuser writes powerful open letter

"LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already. The Pelosi/Schumer Puppet Jones would vote against us 100% of the time. He’s bad on Crime, Life, Border, Vets, Guns & Military. VOTE ROY MOORE!" the president tweeted.