Mo Brooks calls Capitol rioters ‘fools’

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) called the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 “fools,” and said they harmed the Republican Party.

Brooks made the comments in an interview with local news outlet AL.com that was published Friday. They come after Brooks launched his Senate bid last Monday to replace Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who will be retiring at the end of his term.

“We were going to have a debate on the House and Senate floors about voter fraud and election theft and that message, those facts, did not get out through the news media,” he told AL.com. “The news media was absorbed by the attack on the United States Capitol.”

“So that whole day we were working months toward was just blown to pieces by those fools who attacked the United States Capitol,” he said.

Brooks was the first to announce that he would object to President Biden’s Electoral College victory in several key swing states, which later gained the support of a majority of House Republicans and several GOP senators. 

However, a number of senators backed off their objections after the riot forced Congress to delay the certification for hours.

Brooks also told the news outlet that the rioters “did more to hurt the Republican Party and our efforts for honest and accurate elections than anybody could have, even those who would’ve followed a script written by the Democratic Party.”

It’s not the first time that Brooks has slammed the rioters for delaying the certification of the Electoral College votes.

One week after the riots, the Alabama Republican said in a floor speech that the rioters “did a great disservice to our cause and America,” and blamed them for “destroy[ing] two months of debate and work.”

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) introduced a censure resolution against Brooks for inciting the riot over the speech he gave at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the breach.