In Senate race, combative Brooks leans into Trump ties
U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, who came under fire for remarks he made preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, says he is better known to voters than when he ran for Senate and lost four years ago
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks who helped lead GOP objections to President Donald Trump’s loss and come under fire for remarks he made preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Wednesday that he is better known to voters this time as he runs for U.S. Senate.
The north Alabama firebrand is seeking the seat that will be vacated when Sen. Richard Shelby retires. He ran for Alabama’s other Senate seat in 2017 but came in third in the primary when he faced attack ads accusing him of being disloyal to Trump. Brooks said he is now better known to voters.
“This time I have an established reputation that people can discern that, 'Yep, Mo Brooks has been beside Donald Trump’s side through thick and thin over the last four years trying to advance the Make America Great agenda,’ ” Brooks said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Brooks, 66, doubled down in support of Trump’s unproven claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and maintained there is no evidence so far of a link between the Trump rally and the riot that followed at the U.S. Capitol.
The outspoken Congressman has come under fire for telling the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that it was time to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”
Brooks said Wednesday that the phrase, said as he was wearing a hat reading “Fire Pelosi,” was intended to fire up the crowd for the next election cycle and is being misconstrued as advocating the violence that followed.
“Anyone with a brain larger than a pea knew that I was not advocating violence,” Brooks said Wednesday.
He also disagreed with Sen, Mitch McConnell’s assessment that Trump was morally responsible for the violence at the Capitol. Brooks declined to say if he would support Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as Senate leader, saying his vote would go to the most conservative senator seeking the leadership spot and he does not know who will be running.
Shelby announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection in 2022, igniting what is expected to be a messy GOP primary at a time when the national Republican Party is trying to chart a direction following Trump’s departure.
Brooks joins former Trump ambassador Lynda Blanchard in a Republican primary field that is expected to attract several other hopefuls. Others sometimes mentioned as potential candidates are Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and Shelby’s former chief of staff, Katie Boyd Britt, who now heads an influential business lobby.
Brooks, a former prosecutor, has served five terms in the House, where the former prosecutor joined the conservative Freedom Caucus. He serves on the Armed Services Committee and Science, Space, and Technology, two important committees for his north Alabama district.
Brooks told The AP that he had spoken to Trump many times about the Senate race, but declined to say if he had asked Trump for an endorsement or if he expects the former president to weigh in on the race.
“Let’s wait and see what President Trump does when he decides to do whatever he is going to do,” Brooks said.
Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller threw his support to Brooks at the Monday rally. Miller was widely viewed as the driving force behind the Trump administration’s hardest-line immigration policies. “Nobody has had President Trump’s back more over the last four years than Mo Brooks,” Miller said.
The blunt congressman has a history of controversial remarks. In 2014 he accused Democrats of engaging in a “war on whites.”
In what could be a war of a GOP primary, Brooks is leaning hard into his combative image, “America can simply not afford senators who cower in their foxholes when the political battles are being fought.”
“I am seeking the position of the United States Senate because I believe our country is at risk. I fear for our country’s future more so than any time in my life,” Brooks said.