My problem with that assertion is that why would he choose such a divisive steppingstone? Seems to me he would choose some other vehicle that is not of such "hot-button" proportions unless he made a grave tactical error in not thinking it would create such a furor.
Because he did it before.
Judge Moore was a local judge who a few years ago defied a federal court order to remove the 10 Commandments from the wall of his courtroom.
The case received much attention in the news media.
He parlayed the notoriety he got from this incident into a successful election campaign for chief justice of the Alabama supreme court.
Defying an order to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom in Gasden (I think) was the stepping stone that got him to the Alabama Supreme Court. Why should he change now?
Moore would never have been elected if it wasn't for the publicity over that incident. There were several more qualified conservative candidates that lost to him in the primary simply because of the publicity.
Moore is indeed a huckster, grandstander and demigog who has no legitimate place on the bench.