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Opinion | Mo Brooks really just can’t agree with … Mo Brooks

Mo can’t seem to agree with himself.

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., speaks with a reporter as he leaves the Capitol after the final vote of the week on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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Mo Brooks hates unprincipled politicians. He can’t tolerate RINOs who say one thing and do another for political gain. And he really can stand socialist elites who think that they should control the levers of power. And yet when you look at his actions that’s exactly who Mo Brooks is.

Perhaps no one should tell him or he might start fighting with his own shadow. 

Last week, APR reported that Brooks, who told everyone a few months back that he was for sure retiring from politics to spend time with his family, is again tossing his hat in the political ring, vying this time for the ALGOP District 5 chairmanship. 

This comes just a few weeks after Brooks ran for the ALGOP executive committee and was beaten like a rented mule. He got two votes. 

But never mind that, Mo’s back. And this time he wants assurances from everyone voting that they definitely won’t change their minds and vote for someone else. Because, if there’s one thing Mo Brooks just can’t abide are people who are wishy-washy and unreliable. People who change their minds all the time. Who say one thing one day and something completely different the next. 

You know, like that fella who called Donald Trump a “serial adulterer” who couldn’t be trusted. In fact, you couldn’t trust “anything Donald Trump says,” this guy said back in 2016. Said he’d “never support or endorse with my reputation someone with such huge character flaws.” 

Wait a minute. That fella was Mo Brooks.  

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The same Mo Brooks who used “MAGA Mo” as his Twitter handle. Who put “MAGA Mo” on his campaign signs. Who spent months begging Trump for an endorsement. Who touted the “$2,500 personal check” he wrote to Trump’s campaign. 

But wait a minute again. That’s the same Mo Brooks who just a few months ago also said this about Trump: “It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024. 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.” 

Are you getting whiplash? 

It almost seems as if Donald Trump is only a great American or a despicable human being based on how he’s most recently treated Mo Brooks. 

It’s sort of the same for the Republican Party and other Republicans where Mo is concerned. 

Brooks has attended an untold number of grand openings and groundbreaking events in the Huntsville area – where he served as a congressman for more than a decade – for projects funded primarily by federal government investment. He’s issued press releases touting the new jobs created and local dollars that would help the local communities in his district. 

At many of those photo ops over the years, he’s stood shoulder to shoulder with former Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, who was almost always mostly responsible for securing the funding for the projects that prompted the photo ops and groundbreaking ceremonies. 

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And yet, there was Mo Brooks in December, on Twitter, claiming that Shelby was more responsible “than anyone” for America’s debt and said the U.S. was on the verge of bankruptcy because Shelby sacrificed the country’s future for “personal edifices and pork.” (Neither of those things is true, for the record.)

The reality is that the beef Brooks has with Shelby has nothing to do with the country’s debt. And everything to do with Shelby pushing Katie Britt, instead of Brooks, to fill his old senate seat.

Brooks really hated that. And he really hated Britt for no reason other than she beat him. 

The day after losing, he called Britt the “second Democrat” in the race and said he wouldn’t be voting. So much for party loyalty, it seems. 

The attacks on Britt didn’t stop there, though. Brooks went after her husband on Twitter, raising vague ethics questions when he took a job at a state lobbying firm and questioned her loyalty after Britt said she wouldn’t make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election. 

He’s also attacked Rep. Jerry Carl and numerous other Republicans. And there’s really no limit to how far he’ll go in an effort to avenge any perceived personal slight. 

In the case of Trump, even after saying that Trump was justified to try and stop the 2020 electoral college vote count – an effort that Brooks helped lead – following Trump’s un-endorsement, Brooks made it known that he would be willing to testify before the Jan. 6 Committee and leaked allegations about Trump asking Brooks personally to overturn the election and hold a new election.

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He called Trump’s fundraising a “scam.” He said Trump’s oath to the country carried the same weight as his marriage vows. He said Trump was compromised by McConnell. He said Trump was a loser. 

And all of this was both before and after he sought and received and sought again Trump’s endorsement. 

So, when deciding who to choose for the District 5 chairmanship, Brooks would really like it if you wouldn’t change your mind. He really hates that. 

But then again who knows because Mo can’t seem to agree with himself. 

Below is a brief overview of Brooks’ public statements that contradict each other time after time.

2016

February

Brooks referred to President Trump as committing “serial adultery” as a reason why he would not support him.

March

In an interview with MSNBC, Congressman Brooks said “I don’t think you can trust Donald Trump with anything he says” in regard to his growing momentum in the 2016 Republican Primary.

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May

In regards to President Trump’s candidacy, “I will not publicly support, or endorse with my reputation, someone who I know to have such huge character flaws.”

November 2019

Mo Brooks on Trump’s impeachment: “Propaganda simply because they dislike Donald Trump.”

December 2020

Mo Brooks to challenge President Trump’s Electoral College Votes.

2021

January

Brooks blames antifa for January 6 riots.

March

Brooks calls January 6 rioters fools.

July

Brooks then says he only spoke on Jan. 6 because White House told him to.

August

Brooks backpedals after being booed at Trump rally.

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2022

March

Brooks says Trump asked him to immediately remove Biden and illegally hold new presidential election.

Brooks says Trump has been compromised by McConnell after his un-endorsement for U.S. Senate race.

Mo Brook says, “Trump’s un-endorsement allows me to shed a burden.”

June

“I wouldn’t hesitate to give the same speech again,” Brooks says of Jan. 6 speech.

Brooks willing to testify against Trump in regards to January 6 riot.

Brooks sought pardons from Trump for GOP lawmakers.

Brooks begs for Trump’s re-endorsement.

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After Britt endorsement, Brooks says Trump has no loyalty.

Brooks says Trump’s Britt endorsement was him being fooled by McConnell — again.

November

Brooks claims he never fought for Trump after 2020 election.

After Trump announces candidacy, Brooks calls him “dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude.”

December

Brooks says Trump’s oaths have same trustworthiness as his marriage vows.

Bill Britt is editor-in-chief at the Alabama Political Reporter and host of The Voice of Alabama Politics. You can email him at bbritt@alreporter.com or follow him on Twitter.

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