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Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama., speaks Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally." (AP PHOTO/JACQUELYN MARTIN)

Party politics

Brooks confirms “MAGA Mo” was a major fraud

Speaking to University of Alabama college Republicans, Brooks focused his anger on Trump but spared no one from his ire.

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It may not come as a surprise at this point in Congressman Mo Brooks’ career that he is a failed opportunist who blames ex-president Donald Trump, fellow Republicans and Alabama voters for his political demise. A tape of Brooks speaking days ahead of November 8’s General Election exposes — in his own words — the depth of his ingrained hypocrisy, brazen character flaws and general contempt for anyone who disagrees with his worldview.

While speaking to a group of college Republicans at the University of Alabama, Brooks focused most of his anger on Trump but spared no one from his ire.

He begins his speech by saying Trump is dishonest while suggesting the Trump Organization fraud charges could have merit. Yesterday, a jury in Manhattan, NY, found the Trump Organization was, in fact, guilty of criminal tax fraud. So, give one to Brooks on this count.

As for Trump’s dishonesty, Brooks said, “He’s personally given me his word. His word that he would do something three different times — and he’s broken his word every single time,” the congressman complained. “If someone gives me their word, to me, that means I’m going to do it through hell or high water. So, it’s hard figuring out who’s telling the truth and who’s not. It’s really hard.”

After blasting Trump, Brooks turned his aim toward Alabama voters.

“So, I’ve got to tell you that the voters in Alabama really don’t care squat, at least the majority don’t, about border security. … [V]oters are doing such a poor job, in particular on border security, particularly on the deficit and debt, particularly on moral values,” Brooks complained, pointing to both U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s and Senator-elect Katie Britt’s respective elections as purported evidence.

When an attendee asked who he would vote for in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race, Brooks deflected, saying he didn’t have to answer that type of question anymore. But then laid out the standards by which he decides who will receive his vote in an election.

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“I’m not voting for any candidates who are dishonest; it doesn’t make a difference if a Republican or Democrat. Probably the worst dishonest one is the Republican,” Brooks said of the Senate race. Here Brooks seemed to imply Britt but did not go so far as to use her name. Did Brooks determine that Britt’s opponent Democrat Will Boyd was the more honorable candidate?

Brooks continued to assess by saying they wouldn’t vote for any candidate who is not for border security or who supports bigger government or votes for deficit spending and increasing the national debt.

Brooks has voted for deficit spending and increasing the national debt while in Congress. He has also vocally criticized Trump on the standards he listed, suggesting that Brooks – if following his own standards – did not vote for Trump in the 2016 or 2020 General Elections.

“Donald Trump wasn’t strong on border security, remember at the end he was supporting amnesty,” Brooks said in September of this year on WVNN’s The Dale Jackson Show. “But what was his number one campaign promise? Number one, build, a long-term promise, was to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it. And, number one campaign promise. And yet he never proposed a bill to Congress to do that.”

This is not the only time Brooks criticized Trump’s fiscal policies. On WVNN’s The Yaffee Program, Brooks attacked Trump for being a big spender.

“Republicans do the same thing when you hear them and their leadership talking about the deficit and debt. Obviously, they’re not sincere because if they were sincere, we’d have made headway,” Brooks remarked. “And we haven’t made headway. Gosh, the largest deficit in the history of the United States of America was Donald Trump and a Republican Senate and a Democrat House. Over $3 trillion deficit in one year. That’s horrible.”

At the meeting, CJ Pearson, a prominent conservative commentator, was at the college Republican meeting and asked Brooks about his criticisms of Trump in the 2016 election cycle.

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“I hit on his dishonesty, that was the big one,” Brooks answered.

Pearson’s next question caused Brooks to reveal his hypocrisy without the congressman noticing.

“[Y]ou called him deceitful today, but when you ran for higher office for the Senate, you kind of retooled yourself as a Trump Republican,” Pearson noted.

“Well, you know, I was a conservative America first guy long before Donald Trump was on the scene,” Brooks said. “I was an America first guy back when Donald Trump was pro-abortion, pro-open borders, and a Democrat.”

“So, with that being said, why did you seek his endorsement if you had a moral opposition?” Pearson asked.

“Because he had such a large influence over a large number of voters,” Brooks retorted. “Simple as that. It’s math. But you will note that I never recanted any of the comments I said about his dishonesty in 2016.”

“I knew I was playing with fire when I ran for the United States Senate, and I knew I could not rely on Donald Trump, but he gave me his word that he would endorse me and he would stick through [with] me, through the end,” continued Brooks, who branded himself “MAGA Mo” during the campaign and traveled around with a cardboard cutout of Trump on the campaign trail. “And he also gave me his word later on that under no circumstances would he ever endorse Katie Britt. That’s two of the three times where he broke his word.”

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Brooks did not mention that after losing Trump’s endorsement in the Senate primary, he then begged for a re-endorsement months later, even after Trump called him “woke.”

Brooks’ last day in office will be January 3, when Britt is sworn in as Alabama’s junior U.S. Senator. he will leave Congress with the singular accomplishment of renaming a post office.

Bill Britt is editor-in-chief at the Alabama Political Reporter and host of The Voice of Alabama Politics. You can email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.

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