Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, is in a hole with his prime benefactor, former President Donald Trump, according to several reports released in recent weeks. But Brooks, because of who he is, just can’t stop digging and tossing dirt in Trump’s face.
The latest evidence of Brooks’ souring relationship with Trump comes this week from The Washington Post, which detailed that Brooks’ problems don’t stop with him breaking with Trump on the issue of the 2020 election.
Not only is Brooks plummeting in the polls, being out-raised by primary opponent Katie Britt and being outworked when it comes to grassroots campaigning, Brooks is blaming his campaign staff – not himself – for his stilted campaign and impotent performance.
After firing his general consultant and his campaign manager quitting, Brooks is desperate to resurrect his Senate hopes. However, his staff shakeup reportedly has made his relationship with Trump even worse.
Brooks chose to hire accused Never-Trumper Forrest Barnwell-Hagemeyer as his campaign manager, as previously reported by APR.
However, The Washington Post newly reports that it was Brooks’ hire of California’s Fred Davis that caused Trump to be “furious” with the six-term congressman.
Davis is widely known across the country as a top operative for the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C., having worked for the respective presidential campaigns of former Vice President Dan Quayle; former President George W. Bush; the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona; former Gov. Jon Huntsman, R-Utah; and former Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio.
Davis also worked notably on the senatorial campaigns of anti-Trump politicians former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona; Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, and California’s Carly Fiorina, whom Trump mocked for her looks. Trump has repeatedly expressed his disdain for the trio and worked to damn their political careers.
Brooks defended his staff shakeup by saying, in part, that the core of his team are the same people that guided his 2017 Senate effort, in which he ultimately placed third behind two scandal-ridden primary opponents. That was the same campaign team who oversaw Brooks backing Jeff Sessions over Trump.
Brooks, of course, also publicly voiced his support of Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation.
However, Sessions was not the only one of Trump’s adversaries that Brooks has publicly praised in the face of withering criticism from the former president.
Brooks has said McCain “fought for his country honorably in the Navy, the House, and the Senate for 60 years.”
“He was an American patriot & his life is a testament to his deep love of country,” he added. “John McCain will be sorely missed.”
While Brooks did not personally donate to Trump’s campaign in 2016 or 2020, he did donate personally to now-Sen. Mitt Romney multiple times during the 2008 and 2012 presidential cycles, including in the 2008 primary when Romney was facing the likes of former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Responding to the reports of Trump’s displeasure, Brooks told WVNN this week that the reporting was “trashy” and “just gossip.”
“It’s just rumor stuff that they have no backup evidence for, because it’s not true,” Brooks added.
He then downplayed reports that his campaign is being outworked, as well.
“There’s going to be some ups and downs. It’s like a roller coaster. But as long as the polling has you in first, it’s hard to complain about how hard you work,” he said.
It should be noted Brooks currently trails Britt in head-to-head polling, despite Brooks starting the race with a 50-point lead.
The question nationally and here in Alabama is “how many times can Brooks slight Trump publicly before the former president strikes back?”
