Donald Trump's endorsed candidates have lost U.S. Senate bids in Alabama in both the primary and general elections, a trend that may be continuing with the 2022 campaign of Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL).
Brooks was the first member of the House of Representatives to announce support for overturning the 2020 election and strapped on a bulletproof vest before giving his infamous “start taking down names and kicking ass" speech on Jan. 6. He was rewarded with Trump's "complete and total endorsement" in July, in a statement that harshly criticized Brooks' GOP rival in the Senate primary.
"I see that the RINO Senator from Alabama, close friend of Old Crow Mitch McConnell, Richard Shelby, is pushing hard to have his 'assistant' fight the great Mo Brooks for his Senate seat. She is not in any way qualified and is certainly not what our Country needs or not what Alabama wants," Trump said. "For Mitch McConnell to be wasting money on her campaign is absolutely outrageous. Vote for Mo Brooks! He stands for America First, and everything Alabama wants."
But CNN is now reporting Trump met backstage with the "not in any way qualified" candidate at the same August rally when his supporters booed Brooks.
"The previously unreported encounter between Trump and Katie Boyd Britt was described as brief but friendly by three witnesses. The former President chatted with Britt about her campaign and with her husband Wesley Britt about his time as an offensive lineman with the New England Patriots. A source close to Trump recalled that he walked away from the conversation 'newly impressed' by the 39-year-old candidate," CNN reported Friday.
Brooks has made his Trump endorsement a centerpiece of his campaign:
Mo Brooks Twitter account.Screengrab.
"It was this pair of episodes — Trump's chance encounter with Britt and Brooks' less-than-enthusiastic reception — that first sowed frustration inside the former President's orbit over Brooks' performance in the Republican primary, according to multiple people who spoke to CNN. That frustration has since grown, leading to Brooks reassessing his campaign strategy in recent weeks," CNN reported. "A Trump aide said the former president is closely monitoring the race to see if Brooks can turn around his campaign."
Read the full report.
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