Mo Brooks slams Senate competitor Katie Britt as a 'pretender,' weighs in on 'Marxist' critical race theory

DALLAS – Rep. Mo Brooks, who is running in the Republican primary to succeed retiring Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, slammed his competitor Katie Britt as a "pretender" from the "establishment" and also strongly criticized critical race theory in an interview with Fox News at CPAC on Friday. 

Brooks, R-Ala., is a firebrand congressman with former President Donald Trump's endorsement for the Alabama Senate seat. But he's facing a crowded primary field including Britt, who is Sen. Richard Shelby's former chief of staff, and Lynda Blanchard, former U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia. 

"The establishment is rallying behind a registered lobbyist as their candidate and that registered lobbyist of course has made a lot of friends in special interest groups and members of those special interest groups. And they're pouring money into her campaign," Brooks said. 

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According to AL.com, Britt pulled in a whopping $2.24 million in the second quarter of this year, setting her up to be able to compete in what will likely be a very expensive GOP primary. Blanchard is independently wealthy and is able to finance her own campaign. 

"So that's going to be the contest. Do the people of the state of Alabama want a principled conservative and are they going to be able to figure out who that principled conservative is as opposed to who the pretender is?" Brooks said. 

Brooks has not yet released his second quarter fundraising numbers. He said he was not yet aware of what his campaign brought in during the previous three months when asked by Fox News.

"Our Alabama First message is resonating strongly with hardworking families who want to protect our Christian conservative values and see real results – not the same old tired, empty rhetoric that politicians have been selling them for decades," Britt said in an announcement about her fundraising total. "We’re seeing and hearing this on the campaign trail every day, and these numbers certainly reinforce the incredible reception and momentum we’re experiencing on the ground."

Brooks made his comments the day after another candidate, Jessica Taylor, a grant consultant with experience in the Alabama governor's office, jumped into the race. 

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Brooks also addressed the Jan. 6 select committee the House of Representatives created on a largely party-line vote after Congress failed to create a special commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. 

"It's a partisan committee. It is one-sided. And we already have lots of investigations that are ongoing about Jan. 6," Brooks said. "This is an effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to come up with a biased report that will enhance their prospects in the 2022 elections."

Democrats have blamed the attack, which came as Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 election, on the former president's false claims that the presidential election was stolen and on members of Congress like Brooks who amplified those claims and objected to the election results on the House floor. 

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Brooks, meanwhile, maintains that there was "voter fraud with election theft" despite the fact there has been no evidence of voting irregularities large enough to change the result of the election. 

Brooks also addressed critical race theory in schools during his discussion with Fox News. He said that "it is Marxist and it is racist" and "designed to divide the American people based on skin pigmentation when we should be bringing the American people together regardless of skin pigmentation." 

"Critical race theory is the exact opposite of what we should be teaching people across the United States of America… skin pigmentation is not what defines a person," Brooks said. 

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