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Donald Trump just rescinded his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks for the Senate seat in the Alabama Republican primary. Usually, endorsements stick through the election.
From CNN:
Former President Donald Trump yanked his endorsement from Alabama Senate hopeful Mo Brooks on Wednesday, promising to make a new endorsement in the race before the May 24 primary.
Trump’s stunning decision to untether himself from a candidate who became the first Republican congressman to vote against certifying the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021, comes amid several dismissive comments that Brooks recently made about the election. Brooks was booed at a rally last August upon telling the crowd they should look beyond the last presidential contest. And in the last two weeks, he has publicly accused Trump of asking him to break the law by exploring ways to reinstall him as commander-in-chief.
Yes, well – it can’t be all that stunning, because we at this site predicted that Trump would pull Brooks endorsement just three days ago. Trump will point to Brooks’s few statements about getting past 2020 as his justification:
“Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’” Trump said in a statement.
Republican MAGA Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, is now “woke.” Weird world we live in.
As everyone knows, normally when Trump is angry about a horrible mistake, he doesn’t stay engaged an hour longer than necessary. Trump stuck with his endorsement of Brooks, which is… interesting. Trump stuck with Brooks right up until it became very clear that there was a very good possibility that Brooks wasn’t going to even make a run-off between the top two candidates.
Trump would be humiliated if his endorsement didn’t even make the final cut and thus Trump made the cut first.
Mo Brooks is losing to two candidates that Mitch McConnell likely prefers, a Gen-X woman, Katie Britt, a former Sen. Shelby chief of staff, and Mike Durant, a former naval aviator. Trump simply couldn’t have his endorsement associated with a third-place finish that doesn’t make the run-off. By yanking his endorsement, Trump can point to Brooks’ loss and say it’s because Brooks lost Trump’s support. The fact that, in reality, it’s the exact opposite, matters about as much as the truth has ever mattered in Trump World.
Beyond who Trump might endorse next (if anyone), there is a lingering question. Why was Mo Brooks talking about moving beyond 2020, at all? We can rule out; “Because that’s what normal people do.” And one is really tempted to wonder whether Mo Brooks feared a subpoena from the Select Committee.
There was significant reporting that Trump’s endorsement came in exchange for Brooks giving a fiery, insane, “kick ass” speech on January 6th, a speech that Brooks later said the White House reviewed and established “parameters” for the speech. Some of the more cynical among us always interpreted the admission as a statement that the White House basically wrote the speech. Last, there’s the weird thing about Brooks wearing body armor on January 6th and whether it was evidence that Brooks knew what was coming later in the day.
Poor Mo Brooks. He got involved with Trump, played the MAGA hero on January 6th, only to have this Select Committee start asking some hard questions, Rolling Stone doing some serious reporting on the Rally and speeches, including the use of “burner phones” and Mark Meadows (See here, and here, as a start) making Brooks fear that his close association with Trump might put him in serious legal jeopardy, while also – at the same time, fearing the loss of Trump’s endorsement.
As with many people who get involved with Trump, poor Mo ended up losing the endorsement but, as a keepsake, will retain the Select Committee’s interest in what Mo was doing on Jan. 6th.
We called this three days ago. Admittedly, it wasn’t a MENSA test, this was pretty easy to see coming.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
