Former President Donald Trump yanked his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks in the Alabama Senate race after the congressman slipped in recent polls, announcing that he plans to back a new candidate in the May 24 Republican primary.
Trump on Wednesday said he made the move because he was unhappy with Brooks’s rhetoric regarding the 2020 presidential election. But with Brooks trailing Republican primary opponents Katie Britt and Mike Durant in recent polls, it is just as likely the former president was interested in preserving his political credibility.
Alabama is a particularly pro-Trump red state, and a loss in the Senate primary there would have been a blemish on his status as a GOP kingmaker.
“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,” Trump said in a lengthy statement. “I will be making a new Endorsement in the near future!”
Trump’s decision to drop Brooks comes after he told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview last week that he was “disappointed” with the congressman and considering other candidates in the Republican primary.
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His options boil down to Britt, former chief of staff to retiring Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, and Durant, a businessman and military combat veteran. Although Brooks has the backing of the Club for Growth, Britt and Durant would appear to be the favored.
Durant met with Trump Monday at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s private social club and political headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida, according to sources close to the Alabama Republican’s campaign.
For Brooks, losing Trump’s support is an ominous development for his prospects.
Multiple recent polls have shown him trailing Britt and Durant. Being so publicly rebuked by the former president after earning his endorsement very early in this race (the spring of 2021) is likely to cast an even darker pall over his campaign.
Trump’s rejection has to be disappointing to Brooks on another level.
The congressman was a prominent speaker at the “Stop the Steal” rally the 45th president hosted near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, where he echoed Trump’s claims the 2020 election was stolen and urged congressional Republicans to oppose the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Brooks has backed up Trump’s unsupported claims the 2020 election was “stolen” but at different times has urged voters to focus on the future and look ahead to this year’s midterm elections and 2024. Trump cited those remarks as his main reason for dropping Brooks.
“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,” Trump said. “If we forget, the Radical Left Democrats will continue to Cheat and Steal Elections.”
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Additionally, in recent days, Brooks pledged to vote against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for Senate Republican leader should he win election to the chamber this fall. Trump has been pushing a monthslong campaign to oust McConnell as the Senate’s top Republican that is highly unlikely to pan out.
In January, Brooks declined to oppose McConnell for another term as leader. As it happens, so did Britt and Durant.
