If you want to know what the underside of the Trump bus looks like, just ask any number of his former loyalists.
From his lawyer and consigliere (Michael Cohen) to both of his attorneys general (Jeff Sessions and William Barr) to his loyal lapdog of a vice president (Mike Pence)—no one tosses their fanboys under the bus quite as often as Donald Trump.
Rep. Mo Brooks is just the latest Trumpist to be unfriended by Trump in a public display of petulance. The former president objected to the congressman’s desire to move on from the dangerous delusion that the 2020 election was stolen, and so he took back his endorsement of Brooks in the Alabama Senate race.
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Adding insult to injury, Trump referred to Brooks—a white Alabama Republican who spoke at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally and urged “American patriots [to] start taking down names and kicking ass”—as being “woke.”
What did Brooks do to earn this grave insult? Last August, he said that Republicans should put 2020 behind them. “Yes, look forward! Look forward! Look forward!” he said at a rally. “Beat them in 2022! Beat them in 2024!”
Frankly, that sounds like reasonable advice to give to a GOP hoping to right its ship—which is a clear sign that Trump would hate it.
Having co-opted and weaponized the term “woke,” Trump has now redefined it to mean, “Attempting to move on from The Big Lie.” So, now Trump’s lying about lying.
You have to give Trump credit for his Orwellian ability to twist words. I mean, he redefined the meaning of “fake news” so effectively that few people know its original meaning. Redefining the term “woke”—originally defined as “alert to injustice in society, especially racism”—was probably a walk in the park.
Still, Brooks’ comments about moving on from 2020 might have been forgiven and forgotten were he running a more successful campaign (before Trump dropped him, Brooks was in third place). Just as Trump cannot allow anyone to move past 2020 (because accepting the results makes Trump a loser), he also cannot tolerate being associated with any loser whose name isn’t Donald Trump.
The problem for Trump is that Brooks is not the only Trump-endorsed candidate that looks likely to lose. As National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar noted, “From North Carolina to Alabama, candidates are failing to capitalize on the Trump seal of approval.”
Trump-endorsed candidate Rep. Ted Budd is losing in several North Carolina Senate primary polls. Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue is getting thumped by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. And now Trump has backed away from Brooks. And those are just Trump’s primary problems in May.
While it might be fun to mock Trump’s penchant for picking losers and his inability to transfer his popularity (even within the Republican Party), this signals some substantive leadership deficiencies on his part. And this isn’t just a concern for Trump critics who fear his return to the White House. If you are a populist or nationalist conservative, you ought to criticize Trump for surrounding himself with people who undermine his agenda, and later, criticize him. And anyone who thinks they’re the one to whom Trump will remain loyal needs a swift wake-up call.
Perhaps Alabama’s Rep. Mo Brooks should have considered what happened to Alabama’s former Sen. Jeff Sessions.
Remember, Sessions was Trump’s first Senate endorsement in February 2016. Like Brooks, Sessions was ideologically as far right as possible, but he appropriately recused himself from the Russia investigation, and Trump tormented him for his decision—reportedly referring to Sessions as “weak,” “slime,” “not mentally qualified,” a “dumb southerner,” and “Mr. Magoo.”
Trump eventually fired Sessions, but the humiliation didn’t stop there. When Sessions tried to run for his old Senate seat again, Trump ripped him as “a disaster who has let us all down” and endorsed former college football coach Tommy Tuberville.
Today, Brooks finds himself in a somewhat similar position. It is unlikely he will be elected to the U.S. Senate, and he has missed the filing deadline to run for his old House seat. At the end of the day, he is expendable to Trump.
Republican voters should question why so many of Trump’s boosters end up deciding the boss has gone too far. (Brooks is now telling the media that Trump asked him to “rescind the 2020 election.”) And they should also wonder why standing up to obvious wrongdoing should be slammed as “woke.”
If Brooks really is “woke,” then that’s an indictment on Trump’s judgment. And if Sessions was actually “not mentally qualified,” what does that say about the guy who took his endorsement and hired him?
Now, I don’t think voters will necessarily connect the dots between endorsement pratfalls and leadership ability. However, I do think that over time, the fear of Trump is eroding; if he endorses your opponent, it’s not an automatic death sentence for your campaign—or a slam dunk victory for your opponent.
This may be cold comfort for Mo Brooks. If it’s any consolation, he should remember that Trump’s support only helped him rise to third place in a Republican primary in Alabama. He was losing before Trump abandoned him, and he will probably still lose after the ballots are counted.
Brooks might feel forsaken by his one-time political benefactor. But, in defeat, he can take a small bit of pride with him—because he told Republicans it’s time to move on from the Big Lie. That’s not as meaningful as fully renouncing Trump’s assault on democracy, but it’s a start.
