Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who helped lead the crusade by Republican lawmakers to steal the 2020 election on ex-President Donald Trump’s behalf that eventually led to the Capitol insurrection in January, is reportedly poised to launch a campaign for the Senate next week.
Punchbowl reports that Brooks will announce the bid during his rally with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller on Monday.
On Wednesday, the congressman posted a flyer for a “campaign rally” that promised “an exciting announcement” without specifying what the campaign was about.
Republican sources told Punchbowl that’s when Brooks will reveal that he will run for Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) seat after the senator announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022.
The Alabama Republican was one of the most aggressive boosters of Trump’s “Big Lie” that falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election, which Trump decisively lost to now-President Joe Biden, was plagued with voter fraud and therefore illegitimate.
Hours before a violent mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6, Brooks gave a fiery speech at the ex-president’s rally in which he told the crowd that “today is the day that American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”
“Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America?” the GOP lawmaker shouted.
Brooks has refused to take responsibility for fueling Trump supporters’ rage with falsehoods about the election and has claimed that he was not encouraging violence that day. He’s also refused to apologize for his role in the insurrection, which led to five deaths.
“I make no apology for doing my absolute best to inspire patriotic Americans to not give up on our country and to fight back against anti-Christian socialists in the 2022 and 2024 elections,” the congressman said in a statement.
Last week, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) requested the House Committee on Ethics and the Office of Congressional Ethics to open an investigation into Brooks, along with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), for “instigating and aiding” the Capitol attack.
