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Fact check: Did Rep. Mo Brooks refuse to endorse Donald Trump?

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President Donald Trump (left) and Rep. Mo Brooks (right)

July 26, 2017
By Sara Reynolds

Nine candidates are competing in a Republican primary for the chance to run in a special election for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat. The Senate Leadership Fund released an ad criticizing candidate and current Rep. Mo Brooks, saying, "Mo Brooks even refused to endorse Donald Trump for president."[1] In response, Rep. Brooks' campaign issued a press release that claims “Mo Brooks endorsed President Trump once he was the GOP nominee.”[2]

Did Mo Brooks refuse to endorse Donald Trump, or did he endorse him in the general election?

Ballotpedia contacted both the Senate Leadership Fund and Rep. Brooks' campaign with requests for evidence.

Materials sent by Rep. Brooks' campaign did not constitute proof of an endorsement. The campaign staff forwarded a press release which challenged the ad by the Senate Leadership Fund as “misleading,” and asserted that “Mo Brooks endorsed President Trump once he was the GOP nominee.” Included with the press release was a photocopy image of a $2,500 check to the Alabama Republican Party drawn on the account of the Make Opportunity Political Action Committee (PAC), and with a Mo Brooks signature.[2][3]

Officials of the Senate Leadership Fund cited three articles: one reporting that Brooks reiterated a previous position against endorsing Trump; a second including transcripts and audio from a radio show in which Brooks declined to specify whether he would vote for Trump; and a third reporting that Brooks didn't consider either Trump or Hillary Clinton "to be well-suited for the office."[4][5][6][7] Other articles from AL.com quoted Brooks as declining to publicly support or endorse Trump.[8]

Background

The August 15 primary election will determine who will compete in the general election slated for December 12, 2017 to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the appointment of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general. (A runoff vote will take place on September 26 if none of the candidates receive a majority of the votes.)[9]

Following Sessions’ appointment, then-Governor Robert Bentley named Luther Strange (R), the Alabama attorney general at the time, to fill the vacancy until the election.[10][9] Strange served as attorney general from 2011 to 2017.[11]

Rep. Mo Brooks (R) has represented Alabama's 5th Congressional District since 2011. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1982 to 1992.[12] During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Brooks endorsed and served as a delegate for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).[13][14]

The website of the Senate Leadership Fund describes the group as "an independent Super PAC" with "one goal: to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority [emphasis in the original source]."[15]

Several news outlets, including The Associated Press, Roll Call, and The Hill, have reported that the dispute about whether Brooks supported Trump is a contentious issue in the race.[16][17][18]

In the 2016 presidential election, Trump won Alabama by 62 percent.[19] Alabama’s two senators have both been Republicans since 1997.[20]

The claim

The Senate Leadership Fund's ad claims that Brooks "refused to endorse Donald Trump for President."[1]

In response to inquiries from Ballotpedia, the Brooks campaign supplied a July 12, 2017 press release disputing the ad, stating, "Mo Brooks endorsed President Trump once he was the GOP nominee."[2][3] (Trump accepted the GOP nomination on July 19, 2016.)[21]

The press release included an image of a $2,500 check, dated October 11, 2016, to the Alabama GOP drawn on the account of the Make Opportunity PAC, and with a Mo Brooks signature. The purpose field notes "strike force - Florida GOTV" (which stands for get-out-the-vote).[2][3] The Make Opportunity PAC was organized in 2012 and lists Brooks as a sponsor.[22]

In support of the ad, the Senate Leadership Fund cited an article dated May 5, 2016 and posted on the online news site AL.com.[4] The May 5 article links to an article dated February 29, 2016, which quotes Brooks criticizing Trump, and saying, "I will not publicly support, or endorse with my reputation, someone who I know to have such huge character flaws and who is dishonest. I only endorse candidates who I believe are superior for a particular reason. So if Donald Trump is our nominee, I will sit back, watch and learn."[23][8]

The May 5 AL.com article further states: “Brooks told AL.com he would be sticking to his position in late February of not be [sic] publicly endorsing Trump because he was concerned about the real estate mogul's character and changing policy positions. ‘I am voting for the Republicans on the ballot,’ he said in a text message.’”[5]

The Senate Leadership Fund also referred Ballotpedia to an October 11, 2016 interview transcript from "The Dale Jackson Show." When radio host Dale Jackson asked Brooks whether he would vote for Donald Trump, Brooks responded, "I didn't say that. I said I'm going to vote for every Republican that's on the ballot."[6]

Lastly, the Senate Leadership Fund cited a November 2, 2016 article which reported that Brooks said that he considers neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton "to be well-suited for the office" and encouraged readers "to decide who is the lesser of the two evils, and then vote accordingly."[7]

Conclusion

An ad by the Senate Leadership Fund criticized Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican candidate for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat, for not endorsing Donald Trump in the 2016 election.[1] In response, the Brooks' campaign staff issued a press release claiming that "Brooks endorsed President Trump once he was the GOP nominee."[2][3]

When asked by Ballotpedia to back its claim, the Brooks campaign did not provide proof that he endorsed Donald Trump.[2][3] Officials of the Senate Leadership Fund, in response to Ballotpedia’s request for evidence that their ad was accurate, cited several articles in which Brooks reportedly declined to endorse Trump.[4][5][6][7][8]


See also

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 YouTube, "Senate Leadership Fund: 'Trust' AL," July 12, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Sara Reynolds, "Email communication with Clay Mills, Mo Brooks campaign media contact," July 17, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Ballotpedia, "Mo Brooks for U.S. Senate press release," July 12, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Senate Leadership Fund, "FACT CHECK: Mo Brooks Says He Endorsed Donald Trump When He Never Did," July 12, 2017
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 AL.com, "Alabama pols starting to coalesce around Donald Trump," May 5, 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 NTK Network, "As Late as October 2016, Mo Brooks Wouldn’t Say Whether He Was Voting for Donald Trump," July 11, 2017
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Duke Chronicle, "Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks talks presidential election, advice for Duke students," November 2, 2016
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 AL.com, "Why will Mo Brooks never endorse Donald Trump? 'Serial adultery' and 'hundreds' of other reasons," February 29, 2016
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Alabama Secretary of State, "Proclamation by the Governor," April 18, 2017
  10. ↑ Bloomberg, "Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange Named to Sessions’ Former Senate Seat," February 9, 2017
  11. ↑ Luther Strange 2017 campaign website, "Meet Luther," accessed July 26, 2017
  12. ↑ Congressman Mo Brooks, "About me," accessed July 17, 2017
  13. ↑ Ted Cruz 2016 campaign website, "Congressman Mo Brooks endorses Ted Cruz for president, named chairman of Alabama Leadership Team," November 9, 2015
  14. ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Amended Certification of Results - Republican Party Primary," March 23, 2016
  15. ↑ Senate Leadership Fund, "About," accessed July 17, 2017
  16. ↑ The Star Tribune, "Super PAC launches another ad in heated Alabama Senate race," July 20, 2017
  17. ↑ Roll Call, "Alabama GOP Senate Candidates Fight Over Loyalty to Trump," July 13, 2017
  18. ↑ The Hill, "Brooks’s prior attacks on Trump could hurt in Alabama Senate race," June 28, 2017
  19. ↑ The New York Times, "Alabama Results," February 10, 2017
  20. ↑ Sen. Richard Shelby has represented Alabama as a Republican since 1994. With Sessions' election in 1996, both Senate seats were held by Republicans.
  21. ↑ NBC News, "It’s Official: Trump Wins GOP Presidential Nomination," July 19, 2016
  22. ↑ United States of America Federal Election Commission, "Statement of Organization," July 10, 2012
  23. ↑ This article was updated on March 1, 2016.
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