Rep. Mo Brooks on Sunday said former President Donald Trump dumped him because he decided to move on after GOP objectors were unable to stop the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6, 2021, that handed the White House to President Biden.
Mr. Trump un-endorsed Mr. Brooks in his bid to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, saying the congressman went “woke” for failing to keep up tangible efforts to invalidate the last presidential contest.
“He was robbed in my judgment in 2020 — in his judgment, he was robbed. And so I can understand that desire,” Mr. Brooks told “Fox News Sunday.” “The conflict was when I would explain the law does not permit us to do that. Our one shot at reversing the election, our one shot in an election contest — under the United States Constitution and federal law — is on January 6. That’s it. That’s the final appeal date.”
Mr. Brooks, who closely aligned himself with Mr. Trump and the MAGA agenda, faces a Republican primary runoff in June against Katie Britt, who is Mr. Shelby’s former chief of staff.
“We can use what happened in 2020 as motivation to try to get better election laws to use as a motivation to win in 2022 and 2024 to save our country,” Mr. Brooks said. “But what is now done in 2020 is irreversible under the United States Constitution and the United States Code, and I’m one of those who believes in law and order.”
Mr. Brooks vociferously defended Mr. Trump and other Republicans’ claims there was fraud in the last election despite their inability to prove it in court.
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“The courts are not the final arbiter of who wins federal election contests,” he said.
Also Sunday, Mr. Brooks said mass shootings were rare when he grew up and said the country needs to fix its “moral decline” to prevent them.
“The big difference is the decline in moral values, respect for human life,” he said.
Mr. Brooks said the number of children growing up in a household with only a single parent is one key problem, saying such kids often face worse outcomes.
“That’s just the data,” he said, adding that he respects single parents and wasn’t making a sweeping criticism.
Mr. Brooks said he isn’t shying away from his endorsement from the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America after the Texas school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults.
“That says a lot about who is gonna fight to defend the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and in Alabama, that’s a big deal,” Mr. Brooks said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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