Former Trump Ally Mo Brooks Now Says It Would Be 'Bad Mistake' to Nominate Him for President
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Win McNamee/Getty; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Donald Trump (left), Mo Brooks
Former Donald Trump ally and fellow Republican Mo Brooks now says the former president should give up his hopes of a 2024 run for the presidency, saying it would be a "bad mistake" for him to serve as the party's nominee.
"It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024," Brooks, a U.S. representative from Alabama, said in an interview with AL.com. "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."
Brooks was once a close ally of Trump's, even participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington which preceded the Capitol riots. But the relationship deteriorated in recent years, after Brooks failed to secure the former president's endorsement, ultimately losing a Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate in Alabama.
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Trump withdrew his support for Brooks in March, after Brooks suggested Republicans should move on from claims about 2020 election integrity to focus on the upcoming midterms.
"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,' despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities," Trump said in a statement announcing he'd revoked the endorsement.
Brooks, whose current term ends on Jan. 3, 2023, now says Trump can't be trusted, just as the former president has teased a "special announcement" set for Tuesday, amid wide speculation he intends to run for president again in 2024.
"No question, I am displeased with Donald Trump," he told AL.com. "But that does not change the truthfulness of what I say. I challenge anybody to make the argument that you can trust the word of Donald Trump."
The Associated Press recently reported that aides to the former president are "making quiet preparations for a 2024 presidential campaign" — and that it could come soon after the midterm elections, so that Trump could "capitalize on expected Republican wins to propel himself toward becoming the front-runner for his party's nomination."
But those expected Republican wins never materialized, with Democrats instead securing the Senate and making better-than-anticipated gains in the House, as well.
With many of the candidates Trump himself endorsed failing to claim victory last week, many have suggested the former president might best serve the Republican Party by staying out of the election.
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Conservatives have also suggested that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who easily won his reelection last week and whom Trump has recently begun attacking, would prove a better candidate.
Speaking to AL.com, Brooks acknowledged that "Ron DeSantis or somebody like him" would be his preferred candidate, adding: "We need someone who is honorable, someone who has good character, someone that the American people respect. They might disagree with, but they respect. And Ron DeSantis is a fighter for the foundational principles that have combined to make America the greatest nation in world history."
