BROOKS ENTERS RACE IN ALABAMA
Staunch Trump ally joins GOP primary for U.S. Senate seat
Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative firebrand and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump who has come under fire for remarks he made preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol, joined the Alabama GOP primary field on Monday to replace Sen. Richard Shelby.
The north Alabama Republican announced his entry into the race at an event with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. He joins former Trump ambassador Lynda Blanchard in a Republican primary field that is expected to attract a number of other hopefuls.
At his campaign kickoff, Brooks cast himself as fighter and took equal aim at both “squishy” Republicans and Democrats.
“America can simply not afford senators who cower in their foxholes when the political battles are being fought,” Brooks told a crowd of several hundred people packed into a meeting hall of a gun range in Huntsville.
“I am a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, not the GOP surrender caucus. And as President Trump can vouch, I don’t cut and run. I stand strong when the going gets tough,” he said.
Miller was an influential force in pushing Trump’s efforts to curb immigration.
“Nobody has had President Trump’s back more
over the last four years than Mo Brooks. Now I need you to have his back,” Miller said as he introduced Brooks.
Brooks, 66, has come under fire for telling the rally that preceded the Capitol riot that it was time to “start taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks said the phrase was intended to fire up the crowd for the next
election cycle and is being misconstrued as advocating the violence that followed.
More than two dozen protesters gathered outside the event, protesting Miller’s appearance and arguing that Brooks does not represent Alabama.