Saturday morning, GOP U.S. Senate hopeful U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) had his chance to address the well-attended Madison County Republican Men’s Club.
Brooks took a couple of apparent jabs at his opponent, former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt.
One of those points that the North Alabama lawmaker raised was candidates supported by so-called special interest groups, including “Big Ag,” who Brooks insisted was a beneficiary of illegal immigrant labor.
“Again, follow the money,” he said. “Who is that profits from cheap foreign labor? This should be no surprise to you, but in terms of the percentage of employees in that particular industry, there are illegal aliens — you know who ranks number one? Big Ag, agriculture — number one, highest percentage of employees for illegal aliens. I’m not talking about legal visas. I’m talking about illegal aliens. Who is number two? Construction. So look and see where these special interest groups go, and you get a pretty good idea where a candidate stands on these particular public policy issues. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but it is an indicator, evidence that you should consider.”
Last month, the Alabama Farmers Federation’s FarmPAC announced its endorsement of Britt in the U.S. Senate race. Following the endorsement, Brooks had been critical of the organization.
Brooks also raised U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) unwillingness to support then-GOP U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore in 2017.
Shelby said he had written in a distinguished Republican for the office at the time and did not vote for Moore.
The issue came up earlier in the campaign during a forum hosted by the Republican Women of Coffee County last month, and a back-and-forth between the two candidates ensued.
Brooks stressed the importance of Republicans backing their candidates and blamed Shelby’s opposition of Moore for Doug Jones’ 2017 election victory.
“How about support for our Republican values, generally?” Brooks said. “You know, there are a couple of candidates who supported and helped, were part of the team that elected liberal Doug Jones in ruby-red Alabama. Y’all remember Richard Shelby is the seven-to-ten days before the election — he gets on national TV, and he’s encouraging people not to vote for our nominee, to write in somebody else. Do you remember Doug Jones thanking Richard Shelby for having done that? Because here’s the margin of victory, and here’s how many bothered to come to the polls and write in somebody else — a Republican.”
He added, “Folks, the Democrats stick together. We’re in the political fight of our lives. We have to stick together. I abhor the thought that we might nominate somebody who helped Doug Jones get elected. And look at the consequences — there are consequences to these bad decisions. Liberal Doug Jones, pro-abortion — not just pro-abortion, he wants to use your tax dollars to pay for abortion. Liberal Doug Jones — he is the one who did what? He voted to impeach Donald Trump. Liberal Doug Jones was the deciding vote on repealing Obamacare.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
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