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.