In the latest development of a falling out between ex-political allies, former U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks couldn’t resist commenting about Tuesday’s federal jury verdict ruling against former President Donald Trump.
Brooks, now Chair of ALGOP District 5 Executive Committee, took to Twitter to share his latest feelings.
.@realDonaldTrump GUILTY! $5 million sexual assault & defamation jury verdict.
GOP CANNOT afford REPEAT sexual predator offender as 2024 president nominee. Offends voters badly.
America needs strongest GOP candidate. Trump ain’t it.
Character matters.https://t.co/aA8PhxknaT
— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) May 9, 2023
While the ruling does not impact Trump’s eligibility to run for president — Brooks said it makes him “unelectable in a general election.”
“The Democrats are absolutely giddy that Donald Trump is leading Republican primary polls,” Brooks said in an interview with Yellowhammer News. “I submit that Republican voters would be wise to ponder why Democrats and left wing elements of the news media so badly want Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee?
“The answer is that Donald Trump turns out Democrat voters at levels never before seen because the Democrats hate Donald Trump so much.”
It’s unclear the exact moment of falling out for Brooks, but it likely came between his comments at a rally — encouraging Cullman voters to “look forward” beyond the 2020 election — and Trump formally endorsing Katie Britt in the 2022 U.S. Senate GOP primary.
Trump said Brooks went “woke,” while Brooks said the schism came because he wouldn’t support Trump’s continued efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Brooks was adamant Tuesday the substance of the Manhattan federal jury’s ruling was indicative of broader “bad character and conduct” on Trump’s part.
“You already have in this jury verdict, other witnesses who testified to similar sexual assaults by Donald Trump,” Brooks said. “Well, many Republican voters are willing to look at Donald Trump’s bad character and conduct.”
While he may have thought differently at the time — Brooks indicated he’s always chalked up failures by GOP leadership on the ballot to Trump’s character issues.
“And that kind of bad conduct is why Donald Trump lost in 2020,” he said. “Why Republicans lost the House under Donald Trump’s leadership in 2018. And it’s why Republicans lost the Senate under Donald Trump’s leadership in 2022.”
Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270 for coverage of the 2023 legislative session.
