OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn his endorsement of Republican Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, likely sealing his fate in the 2022 Senate election.
“Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’ he said in his email.
“When I endorsed Mo Brooks, he took a 44-point lead and was unstoppable. He then hired a new campaign staff who ‘brilliantly’ convinced him to ‘stop talking about the 2020 Election.’ He listened to them. Then, according to the polls, Mo’s 44-point lead totally evaporated all based on his ‘2020’ statement made at our massive rally in Cullman, Alabama,” he said.
“When I heard his statement, I said, ‘Mo, you just blew the Election, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ 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. I don’t think the great people of Alabama will disagree with me,” he said, promising, “I will be making a new Endorsement in the near future!”
A recent poll in the Alabama Daily News showed Brooks struggling on Tuesday.
Mike Durant, the retired Army helicopter pilot of “Black Hawk Down” fame, leads a new poll in the race for U.S. Senate, with former Business Council of Alabama President Katie Britt running a close second and Congressman Mo Brooks falling far behind.
In a survey of likely Republican voters, 34.6% said they would vote for Durant if the election was held today, while 28.4% chose Britt and 16.1% chose Brooks. Just 14.1% remain undecided.
The poll was conducted by Cygnal on behalf of Alabama Daily News and Gray Television.
For Brooks, who for months has been considered the frontrunner in the race, the results show a precipitous slide. The same poll in August showed him leading the race with 40.8% of the vote. That’s a 24.7% drop in almost eight months.
The fall for Brooks coincided with recent television and radio ads that highlighted Brooks opposition to Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential election primary.
In July, the Brooks campaign touted an endorsement of the representative by the former president.
“Few Republicans have as much COURAGE and FIGHT as Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks,” he said in the endorsement which is still on the Brooks campaign website.
“Mo is a great Conservative Republican leader, who will stand up for America First no matter what obstacles the Fake News Media, RINOs, or Socialist Democrats may place in his path,” the former president said.
“Mo Brooks is pro-life, loves our Military and our Vets, will protect our Second Amendment, combat the Biden open border agenda, is fighting for voter integrity (like few others), and was the Co-Chair of our winning, and record setting, Alabama campaign in 2020.
“Mo Brooks has my Complete and Total Endorsement for the U.S. Senate representing the Great State of Alabama. He will never let you down!” he said.
Last week a Brooks campaign aide denied a report by CNN that said he was in danger of losing the former president’s endorsement.
“Mo Brooks has a lot of strong allies in the MAGA movement and a lot of allies who do have the President’s ear, and it’s a safe guess that Trump is going to have a lot of Mo Brooks’ friends going to bat for him,” they said.
But someone close to the 45th President of the United States said that he was frustrated with Brooks’ performance.
“He feels he has been more than patient and that Mo hasn’t risen to the occasion despite many opportunities to do so,” the source said.