Trump 'Very Sad,' Snatches Back Endorsement From Loyalist Running For Senate

Former President Donald Trump has never been one to let a slight go easily. After one slip of the tongue by his chosen candidate to win a U.S. Senate seat in deep-red Alabama, Trump has pulled his endorsement to punish what he sees as an act of defiance.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that he would be rescinding his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., after the congressman was caught suggesting that voters should move past any focus on the 2020 presidential election and keep their eyes on future races. Trump, who has held onto the resoundingly debunked conspiracy that he was cheated out of victory in that race, made clear that this was enough to lose his support.

“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,’” Trump said in his statement.

“I am hereby withdrawing my Endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate,” he said. “I don’t think the great people of Alabama will disagree with me.”

Trump called the rescinding of the endorsement as "very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I.”

With the loss of Trump’s support in the race, Brooks’ future in the race remains uncertain. Before this, Brooks was already struggling to keep pace with either of his rivals, businessman Mike Durant and Katie Britt, who is running to replace her former boss, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

According to one poll by a March 10–13 survey conducted by the Republican firm McLaughlin & Associates, Durant led the field with 33.8%, with Britt close behind at 32%. Brooks himself trailed further behind them at only 17.6%.

Trump’s umbrage was made known a day before ultimately pulling his endorsement. In an interview with the right-leaning Washington Examiner on Tuesday, Trump called Brooks "disappointing" for his comments about the 2020 race.

Brooks, who attended Trump's Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally that preceded the violent Capitol Riot, has in the past insisted that he believed Trump's claims of election fraud. But it soon emerged that Brooks told a crowd to end the focus on 2020 in August 2021, four months after receiving Trump’s endorsement.

According to Politico, the congressman has confirmed he will not be dropping out.