COLUMN | Mo Problems: How Brooks Went From Trump Ally To 'Woke' Pariah

*This is an opinion column*

TUSCALOOSA, AL — When I read the news Friday evening that former President Donald Trump had formally endorsed Republican U.S. Senate candidate Katie Britt, I was reminded of the words of Clark W. Griswold in the holiday classic "Christmas Vacation."

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When asked if he is surprised to see the ne'er-do-well Cousin Eddie in his home, Griswold responds: "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now ... "

That was my attitude upon hearing that the former aide and acolyte of Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby had received Trump's official blessing ahead of the June 21 GOP runoff against longtime Trump ally and Alabama Republican Congressman Mo Brooks.

Brooks went on to spend millions of dollars attacking Britt in the months leading up to the May 24 GOP primary, focusing on her establishment connections while implying that the former CEO of the Alabama Business Council is actually serving some tinfoil hat liberal agenda.

The words drip with irony coming from a career politician who has tried to tout himself as an outsider more closely aligned with Trump than he is with the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

Despite Shelby sticking with his party in his final term on Capitol Hill, the senator and 45th president were visibly at odds at numerous points during Trump's tumultuous time in office, which led many to believe an endorsement for Britt from the former commander-in-chief was unlikely.

Still, Shelby sided with the first president in this country's history to be impeached twice, despite Trump's more fringe, anti-establishment supporters leveling unceasing criticism against an 88-year-old senator who has arguably done more for Alabama — and Tuscaloosa, for that matter — than any other senator in the state's history.

Even Trump himself, whose policies benefitted greatly from Shelby's vast influence in the Senate, blasted the Alabama lawmaker on several occasions for being a "RINO" — an overused conservative moniker standing for "Republican In Name Only."

But apart from how Britt's campaign was initially received when she announced her bid last summer, many viewed it as the congressman's race to lose from the outset.

I spoke in person with Brooks less than two months after the infamous Ellipse rally on Jan. 6, 2021, where the Alabama congressman joined Trump on stage outside of the White House and fired up the crowd by shouting: "It's time to start taking down names and kicking ass!"

That foreboding rally proved to be only a prelude to the first breach of the U.S. Capitol since 1814, as thousands of demonstrators shattered windows, ransacked capitol offices and assaulted police in an brazen but failed attempt to block the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Speaking at an event hosted by BamaCarry in Tuscaloosa in March 2021, Brooks was met with a surprising degree of skepticism. Members of the Second Amendment advocacy group at one point even became visibly frustrated when Brooks chose to tout his role in the events of Jan. 6 instead of answering questions relating to the rights of gun owners in Alabama.

"You're a coward!," shouted a friend of mine in attendance when Brooks tiptoed around questions that he didn't seem to have the answers to. It was an illuminating moment for any non-conservative who labors under the assumption that all Republicans were in favor of the violence on Jan. 6. These folks were there to talk about the issues important to them and the state of Alabama, not to hear Mo Brooks grandstand, so they certainly let him know it.

In this reporter's view, that night represented a kind of first strike for Brooks ... and he hadn't even confirmed his bid for U.S. Senate yet.

It would have little impact, however, as he would go on to formally announce his candidacy the following week in Huntsville and subsequently receive the expected endorsement from the former president.

But let's skip ahead to August.

In an effort to galvanize Republican voters in Alabama, a large-scale Trump rally was organized in the deep-red city of Cullman for late that month, which featured the expected cast of fringe Republicans scheduled to speak, like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

I managed to gain access to that rally and was in the VIP section reserved for Republican Party officials when I was first introduced to Katie Britt. In a candid phone conversation with Britt the following day, I told her I had not expected to see her at the event, due to Trump's endorsement of Brooks — who was also one of the speakers at the rally.

Britt agreed with the optics I presented, but insisted she was there solely as a member of the Alabama Republican Party. While I have no choice but to take her word for it, she said she didn't stick around once the speakers took the stage. This was also well before her campaign ads began to focus on her open support of Trump's policies and the "America First" agenda.

If indeed Britt was absent as the cast of speakers frothed with admiration for Trump, this reporter would wager she likely now regrets missing the sight of Brooks loping up to the podium and shooting his approval numbers in the foot.

As long as I live, I will never forget how the overall mood of that large crowd shifted in a matter of seconds the moment Brooks proposed moving on from disputing the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election in favor of devoting time and energy to winning back the White House in 2024.

The crowd erupted in a chorus of boos and cursing. A large segment of the attendees on the ground in front of the stage could also be seen displaying middle fingers at Brooks, who flailed around at the lectern trying in vain to explain what he had just said.

He managed to recover after the shouting subsided and Trump would later summon Brooks back up to the stage for a curtain call.

Grinning the same way a dog does when being let inside from the rain, Brooks gingerly made his way across the stage to a half-hearted applause from the crowd that came only after Trump's encouragement.

But behind the scenes, it has since been learned that the former president was fuming after Brooks diverged from the stolen election narrative that has stayed a central talking point for Trump. This was true even before the 2020 election, when he insisted on multiple occasions to his faithful supporters that if he didn't win a second term, it will have been because the election was rigged — a notion that has been flatly refuted at every turn for lack of evidence.

On the campaign trail following the rally, Brooks saw his once-promising bid faced with a strong Republican challenger in political newcomer and war hero Mike Durant, while Britt burned up the roads campaigning after her coffers were filled by Richard Shelby's Political Action Committee.

Competition not withstanding, Brooks was also faced with a displeased Donald Trump, who openly chastised the Alabama congressman for his position on the 2020 election. Indeed, with respect to the 2020 election results, Brooks has wavered from one side of the idealogical spectrum to the other, and back again, over the course of the last year.

As the prospects for Brooks seemed to be losing steam, especially as Durant's and Britt's stock rose, Trump finally cut the cord in March — a couple of months before the May 26 GOP Primary in Alabama. Trump ultimately declined to endorse a candidate in the primary, despite all three of the perceived frontrunners jockeying hard for his support.

Despite the doubters, though, Brooks scratched across a strong enough performance to edge out Durant in the primary and force a runoff with Britt.

And just like that, Brooks saw his campaign go from D.O.A to having a second chance at life.

After the results came in, Brooks was quick to compare himself to Lazarus — a man in the Bible brought back from the dead by Jesus Christ.

A fan of Biblical references, it's worth noting Brooks also drew comparisons to Trump and Jesus in August 2021, when he told the masses in Cullman to prepare for the "Second Coming of Donald Trump."

Still, vitriolic campaign ads were the talk of the weeks that followed the primary, as Brooks and Britt traded barbs. The ads, in a general sense, mirrored one another in their substance, as each accused the other of being a closet liberal or serving some ulterior agenda, while at the same time touting themselves as the only true champion worthy of forwarding Trump's agenda.

Several Alabama Republican Party members have confided to me that the campaigns have stooped to a new low in their groveling and pandering in the final weeks leading up to the runoff, which has left many concerned over the internal divisions within the party.

But none stooped lower or groveled harder than Brooks.

In a last-ditch attempt to win back Trump's favor ahead of the primary runoff, Brooks on June 5 began a short-lived social media campaign to plea for the former president's re-endorsement.

“Join me in asking President Trump to #ReEndorseMo so that we can send a message to Mitch McConnell by sending a real America First conservative to the Senate on June 21," he said on Twitter.

It's important to note that the hashtag campaign by Brooks was pushed out primarily on Twitter — a social media platform that first banned Trump in 2021 following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

It should come as little surprise that the move didn't take long to backfire, as Brooks was met mostly with jeers from liberal and conservative pundits alike for his cringeworthy display of last-second desperation.

In a little more than a year, Brooks went from basking in the warmth of the center-stage spotlight at the Jan. 6 rally to being mocked as "Woke Mo Brooks" by Trump. And now, he was publicly begging for his endorsement.

The path connecting the two points in time is littered with gaffes by Brooks, whose actions display a blatant disregard for the issues important in his home state.

Instead, Brooks has focused exclusively on hitching his political star to Trump, which appears to have clouded his judgement in one scenario after another and ironically could end up being responsible for his political undoing. This especially after his meal ticket changed bandwagons after being attracted by Britt's performance in the primary and in polling numbers.

Be it a small BamaCarry meeting in Tuscaloosa, a rally of more than 30,000 people in Cullman or the masses of Republican voters in Alabama preparing to cast their ballots, Brooks did himself no favors along the way by stepping on every single political landmine he encountered.

And yet, for reasons I will never quite understand, he still managed to Mr. Magoo his way onto the runoff ballot.

So who knows? Maybe this isn't over?

Trump's endorsement has backfired for candidates before, but only time will tell if it will signal the death knell for the political career of Mo Brooks.

“Let’s just admit it: Trump endorses the wrong people sometimes,” Brooks said Friday evening on social media. “He endorsed Mitt Romney, he endorsed John McCain and now he’s endorsed Katie Britt, who his own son, Don Jr. called “Alabama’s Liz Cheney.”

Ryan Phillips is the founder and fielder editor of Tuscaloosa Patch. The views expressed in this opinion column are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of our parent company or sponsors.