The logo on Rep. Mo Brooks' Senate campaign website boasts "Endorsed by Trump," but it's going to need an update: Donald Trump has pulled his endorsement of the Alabama lawmaker, who was long one of his staunchest allies. The former president said he was withdrawing his endorsement because of remarks Brooks made last year suggesting it was time to "move on" from the 2020 election, the New York Times reports. "When I heard his statement, I said, 'Mo, you just blew the election, and there’s nothing you can do about it,'" Trump said in a statement on Wednesday. "Very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I."
Trump, who continues to insist that his loss to President Biden was the result of fraud, slammed Brooks as "woke" and disloyal, reports the Hill. "When I endorsed Mo Brooks, he took a 44-point lead and was unstoppable. He then hired a new campaign staff who 'brilliantly' convinced him to 'stop talking about the 2020 Election,'" Trump said. A source tells Politico that Brooks, who was fading in the polls even before Trump pulled his endorsement, plans to stay in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Richard Shelby. Brooks' rivals include Mike Durant, who visited Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to Politico's sources.
In 2020, Brooks was the first House lawmaker to say that he planned to challenge the Electoral College when Congress met on Jan. 6 to certify it. On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Brooks spoke at Trump's rally, saying, "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass." The Times reports in a "last-ditch effort" to keep Trump's endorsement, Brooks used footage from the rally last week in an ad, which has him saying, "On January 6th, I proudly stood with President Trump in the fight against voter fraud." In another ad seen as an appeal to Trump, Brooks slammed "open-border RINO Republican" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a frequent Trump target. (More Mo Brooks stories.)
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