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GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama is in the political doghouse … again.
Former President Donald Trump cast Brooks from his orbit months ago, when the lawmaker encouraged a Trump rally crowd to get over their grievances with the 2020 election. Soon after, Trump rescinded his endorsement of Brooks in Alabama's GOP Senate primary race.
On Friday, their relationship took another turn for the worse when Trump endorsed Brooks' primary opponent, Katie Britt.
Britt is a “fearless America First Warrior,” Trump said in a statement Friday, adding that she would “never let you down."
The move obviously disappointed Brooks, who issued a series of angry tweets denouncing the endorsement.
If you’ve been following along with the Brooks character arc, you know it’s taken a lonely turn in recent months. Brooks is a Trump sycophant who spoke at the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But he evidently forgot Trump demands complete subservience. His surprisingly sound advice for Trump supporters to get over their 2020 tantrum resulted in Trump labeling him “woke” and set off a rocky few months for Brooks.
After Trump pulled his Senate endorsement, Brooks publicly revealed for the first time that Trump had asked him to overturn the 2020 election as recently as September 2021.
For a brief period, the tension made it feel as if Brooks was turning on Trump. Perhaps, some thought, he might even be willing to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee.
But that never came into fruition, in part, because Brooks refused to testify.
Instead, Brooks groveled and publicly campaigned for Trump to endorse him again. In recent weeks, he unsuccessfully tried to get #ReEndorseMo trending online in a plea for Trump’s affection. He appeared to be holding out hope that Trump, at least, wouldn’t endorse Britt.
Last Thursday, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes asked Brooks if he was worried about following a path similar to Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican and former attorney general spurned by Trump and ostracized by the GOP.
"Donald Trump has not endorsed my opponent," Brooks said, repeatedly and hopefully.
Trump endorsed Britt days later.
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