Last week, the rift between President Donald Trump and conservative pundit Ann Coulter entered into a new phase. Coulter was not only openly criticizing the guy she wrote an entire book about trusting, but she was also courting challengers from the right.
She even mentioned one of those potential challengers by name, Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville).
Coulter was pressed by the hosts of Yahoo News’ Skullduggery podcast for a name and she replied, “Mo Brooks is terrific,” adding, “The one who should be the senator from Alabama instead of Doug Jones, but idiot Jared-boy said ‘No, endorse Luther Strange, he’s huge in Alabama! It’ll be great.”
Brooks addressed Coulter’s comments in an interview with WVNN radio’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” saying he was not interested in running for president.
“[T]here’s not any chance that I’m running for president in 2020. I don’t care what’s been polled, it’s not going to happen,” Brooks stated.
He even said he didn’t want to draw Trump’s ire, joking “Right now, I’m kind of in a foxhole lying low on this particular issue.”
In the interview, Brooks made it seem like challenging Doug Jones was something he also was not planning on doing. But he did mention there was one way he could enter the race, asking, “What percentage is there that President Trump is going to publicly ask me to run and endorse me?”
Brooks revealed that he feels he was burned by Trump’s endorsement of Strange in 2017 and argued he “would’ve prevailed in 2017 had President Trump not endorsed at the last second Luther Strange.”
The Huntsville congressman mentioned a conservative group has promised him $1 million in campaign contributions if he would run against U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), but Brooks pointed out that is “not enough” to run that race.
He also hinted at some polling done in Alabama that shows him with a lead over other potential candidates in a GOP primary to take on Jones. Yellowhammer News has obtained that poll of 400 likely Alabama GOP Primary voters done by “Victory Phones,” and it backs Brooks’ claim.
Poll results as follows:
Rep. Mo Brooks: 30 percent
Rep. Bradley Byrne: 17 percent
Rep. Gary Palmer: 12 percent
State Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh: 7 percent
Other: 6 percent
Undecided: 27 percent
It seems unlikely that Brooks gets in this race, but the fact that he is talking about it adds some intrigue to a race that is already expected to draw experienced political players and big money in a GOP primary that will likely decide who is Alabama’s junior senator in 2021.
Listen:
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
