Former President Donald Trump has pulled his support for Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks, vowing to make a new endorsement before the primary on May 24.
"Alabama's Mo Brooks made a terrible mistake recently when he turned 'woke' and said, in reference to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, 'Put that behind you, put that behind you,'" Trump said in a statement on Wednesday.
Trump's surprising decision to distance himself from a candidate who, on January 6, 2021, became the first Republican congressman to vote against certifying the 2020 election results comes after Brooks made several contemptuous remarks about the election recently. Brooks was booed at a rally last August after advising the crowd to look beyond the previous presidential election. In the last two weeks, he has accused Trump of urging him to breach the law in order to reinstall him as commander in chief.
"President Trump has asked me to void the 2020 elections, remove Joe Biden from the White House immediately, reinstate President Trump, and hold a new presidential special election. As a lawyer, I've frequently told President Trump that the election results were finalized on January 6, and that neither the United States Constitution nor the United States Code allow him to do what he wants. That is the case "Brooks maintained his position.
Brooks later told CNN that in meetings after September 1, 2021, the former President requested him to be a part of an effort to rescind the 2020 election "many times."
"Have given it no thought," he said when asked if he would help with the House select committee examining the insurgency at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Brooks has not been requested to participate in an interview or provide documents pertaining to the committee's probe. A spokesman for the committee declined to speak on the record.
Brooks accused Trump of allowing "Mitch McConnell to manipulate him" in his response to Trump's turnaround, stating that the Senate Minority Leader and his associates have been planning against him since the beginning of his campaign.
"McConnell and his supporters have produced every negative television ad against our campaign. I wish President Trump would not fall for McConnell's ruses, but he has done so once again "According to Brooks,
Brooks touted himself as "the only proven America First candidate" in the race for retiring Senator Richard Shelby's seat, and "the only candidate who fought voter fraud and election theft when it counted, between November 3 and January 6," in response to Trump's claim that he had gone "woke" on the 2020 election.
Brooks does not appear eager to drop out of the race, despite Trump's promise to provide a fresh endorsement before the primary on May 24. Despite Trump's decision, according to a source close to the congressman, he will stay.
"On Election Day, the people of Alabama will see that there is just one conservative option in this race," he stated.
Brooks' primary ally, the Club for Growth PAC, has similarly refused to drop its support for Trump. Brooks "is the only principled, pro-growth conservative in the race," according to the group's president, David McIntosh, in a statement.
According to a source familiar with the encounter, Trump met with Army veteran Mike Durant on Monday at Mar-a-Lago to talk the campaign and get a better sense of the candidate. He had previously expressed reservations about Durant, who benefited from outside expenditure by More Perfect Union, an organization dedicated to backing moderate candidates in red and blue contests.
Earlier this year, Trump met with Katie Britt, the former head of the Alabama Business Council, to express his disappointment with Brooks' performance. As CNN has reported, Trump has told allies that Britt's fundraising skills have impressed him, and that he likes her husband, Wesley Britt, a former New England Patriots player.
Britt was Shelby's chief of staff when she retired.
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