Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday rescinded his endorsement of Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks in his state’s Republican Senate primary, dealing a major blow to the congressman’s campaign. In a statement, Trump cited Brooks’ performance in the race and what he perceived as Brooks’ attempt to move Republicans beyond Trump’s false 2020 election fraud claims. The former president said he will make another endorsement in the “near future.” “Very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I, and I am hereby withdrawing my Endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate,” Trump said. “I don’t think the great people of Alabama will disagree with me.” Brooks, in a statement read at a campaign event, defended his conduct. “I have not changed. I am the only proven America First candidate in this Senate race,” he said. Trump has been frustrated for months as Brooks has failed to gain traction in the May 24 primary and has trailed in polling. By withdrawing the endorsement, Trump is trying to stave off the embarrassment of backing a losing candidate in a high-profile race. Trump, who often brags about his endorsement record, takes his tally seriously, seeing it as a reflection of his power in the Republican Party as he mulls another presidential run in 2024. Alabama’s is not the only race in which Trump’s pick has struggled. The Senate candidate he originally endorsed in Pennsylvania, Sean Parnell, dropped out amid allegations of abuse from his ex-wife. In North Carolina, Trump’s Senate pick, Rep. Ted Budd, has failed to make a splash. In Georgia, former Sen. David Perdue is trailing Gov. Brian Kemp, one of Trump’s top 2022 targets, in the primary campaign. Trump has since become more cautious and held back endorsements in several high-profile races, including contests in Ohio, Missouri and Arizona. Trump had backed Brooks last April, more than a year before the Alabama primary, rewarding the conservative firebrand who whipped up a crowd of Trump supporters at the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Brooks has since found himself in a tough race with two formidable opponents: Katie Britt, the former head of a state business group, and Mike Durant, a businessman best known as the helicopter pilot shot down and held prisoner in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” incident. The Senate race in the strongly Republican state will likely decide who succeeds GOP Rep. Richard Shelby, who’s retiring. Britt previously served as Shelby’s chief of staff. Brooks, who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s victory, said he knew that he might lose Trump’s endorsement by saying the 2020 election could not be overturned. “President Trump has asked me to rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, immediately put President Trump back in the White House, and hold a new special election for the presidency. As a lawyer, I have repeatedly advised President Trump that January 6 was the final election contest verdict and neither the United States Constitution nor the United States code permit what President Trump asks. Period,” Brooks said Wednesday at a diner in Hueytown, Alabama. “I’ve told President Trump the truth knowing full well that it might cause President Trump to rescind his endorsement. But I took a sworn oath to defend and protect […]
The post Trump Rescinds Brooks Endorsement In Senate Race In Alabama appeared first on The Yeshiva World.
Recent Comments