A onetime staunch ally of Donald Trump and prominent figure of the “Stop the Steal” rally is calling for the former president to ditch his White House aspirations — for the good of the Republican Party and of the country.
“If President Trump wanted to put America first, he would not run,” Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday ahead of Trump’s expected 2024 campaign announcement.
“He’s dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude, and a number of other things that have unnecessarily turned a lot of independent and Republican voters against him — voters who are needed to win elections,” Brooks added.
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Brooks casts blame on Trump for GOP losses in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections, citing his “poor character” that motivated Democratic turnout.
“Donald Trump could not even beat a basement-dwelling presidential candidate in 2020,” Brooks said of Trump’s defeat to President Joe Biden.
Brooks hasn’t spoken to Trump since the former president in March rescinded his endorsement in the Alabama Senate primary and backed Katie Britt, who went on to win. Brooks, who spoke at the Jan. 6, 2021, Stop the Steal rally that precipitated the Capitol riot, said the former president pulled his support when the congressman refused to advocate reinstating Trump in the White House, which is “not legal.”
With retirement on the horizon, Brooks said he can speak more freely than this GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill who still have some hesitation about crossing Trump but claimed his sentiment is widely shared.
“Republicans on Capitol Hill do not want Donald Trump to run because they believe he’s a loser in 2024’s general election,” Brooks said.
While he hasn’t endorsed in the next presidential race, Brooks said he thinks highly of GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, as well as GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
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“What Ron DeSantis has done in Florida is remarkable and earns him the position of being the tantamount Republican leader in America,” Brooks said.
Trump is expected to announce his 2024 intentions at 9 p.m. EST. Follow along with the Washington Examiner’s live blog.
