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Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday morning that he was withdrawing his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks and his campaign to be elected U.S. senator from Alabama.
Recent polls show Brooks in a distant third place with 16% of Alabama Republican support, behind Mike Durant (35%) and Katie Britt (29%). The same poll had Brooks leading the race with 41% of the vote in August of last year, which is a 25% drop in roughly eight months.
As Todd Stacy explains it for the Alabama Daily News, “Brooks’ slide comes after several weeks of television and radio advertising attacking the Huntsville congressman on a number of issues, most notably comments he made in opposition to former President Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.”
Trump, however, blamed Brooks for making a “horrible mistake” of going “woke” when he called to put baseless allegations of 2020 election fraud in the rearview mirror. This did not endear Brooks to Trump, who signaled to Washington Examiner’s David Drucker last week that he may consider dropping
Trump said via statement “When I heard his statement, I said, ‘Mo, you just blew the Election, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ Very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I, and I am hereby withdrawing my Endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate.”
The risk of losing Trump’s endorsement nearly immediately elicited a pro-Trump campaign advertisement from the Brooks campaign in which he boasted about his role on January 6th and speaking to Trump supporters in advance of capitol riots. That apparently was not enough to impress Trump, who may also be more interested in backing a winner than reciprocating the loyalty shown to him by Brooks (shocker!)
In January, Tara Palmeri reported for Playbook that Trump had become so disillusioned with his advisors suggesting endorsements that he was considering endorsing TWO Republican senate candidates that he believes “dual endorsements would mean, ‘I get two chances to win.’” This of course suggests that the priority is a winning endorsement and not any policy or loyalty test.
Perhaps the pithiest assessment of this political development came from Maggie Haberman who said via Twitter “The whole statement is not tethered to reality. Brooks has been struggling for awhile and this is an attempt to save face.”
Read Trump’s full statement below.
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,” despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities. If we forget, the Radical Left Democrats will continue to Cheat and Steal Elections. Just look at what is happening in Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and elsewhere, but tremendous progress has been made that will help us in 2022 and 2024. The 2020 Election was rigged, and we can’t let them get away with it.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.” He listened to them. Then, according to the polls, Mo’s 44-point lead totally evaporated all based on his “2020” statement made at our massive rally in Cullman, Alabama. When I heard his statement, I said, “Mo, you just blew the Election, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I, and I am hereby withdrawing my Endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate. I don’t think the great people of Alabama will disagree with me. Election Fraud must be captured and stopped, or we won’t have a Country anymore. I will be making a new Endorsement in the near future!