Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a onetime loyalist to Donald Trump who spoke at the Jan. 6 rally that led to the assault on the U.S. Capitol, trashed the former president in a new interview.
“It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024,” Brooks told AL.com amid reports Trump will declare his candidacy on Tuesday.
He added: “Donald Trump has proven himself to be dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude and a lot of other things that alienate so many independents and Republicans. Even a candidate who campaigns from his basement can beat him.”
That last line is a callback to a Republican attack on President Joe Biden during the 2020 election, when many of his events were virtual due to the pandemic.
Brooks was loyal to Trump throughout the 2020 cycle and repeated the ex-president’s election-fraud lies. He spoke at the Jan. 6 rally and stirrred the crowd to “stop at the Capitol” on their way home.
They did, and rioted in a failed attempt to block the certification of the presidential election.
Ryan O’Toole, former aide to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), said Brooks was “cheering” as the mob attacked, even as many of his colleagues fled in fear.
Brooks denied that, but his loyalty won him Trump’s endorsement for the U.S. Senate seat from Alabama.
But Brooks last year told voters to put the 2020 election “behind you,” which didn’t please Trump. Then, earlier this year, Brooks said Trump had been asking him to “rescind” the 2020 election results, remove Biden from office and return him to power.
Brooks said he told Trump that no provision in the Constitution would allow that.
Trump threw a fit and withdrew his endorsement, claiming the far-right lawmaker had gone “woke.”
Brooks did not win his Senate primary and will retire from the House when his term ends in January.