Mo Brooks Says 'Kicking Ass' Jan. 6 Speech Was 'About Beating The RINOs'
Rep. Mo Brooks has denied that the speech he gave at the Ellipse on January 6 helped incite the attack on the Capitol, and that his "kicking ass" remarks were taken out of context.
Speaking to MSNBC's Chris Hayes on the eve of the January 6 Committee's first televised hearings about the events which led up to riot, the Alabama congressman dismissed suggestions that his remarks in Washington, D.C. that day were calling for actual violence.
Brooks, who has been subpoenaed by the January 6 panel but is refusing to cooperate, along with four other GOP lawmakers, gave a speech in front of the crowd of Donald Trump supporters on the morning of January 6 wearing a bulletproof vest.
"Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass," Brooks told the crowd.
"Our ancestors sacrifice their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes, and sometimes their lives to give us—their descendants—an America that is the greatest nation in world history," Brooks added.
"So I have a question for you. Are you willing to do the same?"
Hayes asked Brooks whether he "felt some twinge of 'oh, no'" when the mob went on to storm the Capitol and attack police officers in their attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 Election results.
Brooks noted that the line about "kicking ass" arrived immediately after he talked about voting out so called Republicans in name only (so-called RINOs) from office.
"There's two sentences in one paragraph," Brooks said. "Look at the preceding sentence that tells you I'm talking about beating Republicans in the 2022 and 2024 election. That's whose names we are going to take down and whose derrieres we're gonna kick.
"Anybody who was there who looks at the two sentences and the two sentence paragraph knows what I'm talking about," Brooks added. "It had nothing to do with what occurred at the United States Capitol, I was talking about beating the RINOs."
In his January 6 speech, Brooks did tell the crowd that the 2022 and 2024 elections would be coming up and the country "cannot tolerate any more weakling, cowering, wimpy Republican congressmen and senators who covet the power and the prestige the swamp has to offer, while groveling at the feet and the knees of the special interest group masters."
Brooks then said the line about "taking down names and kicking ass."
Brooks noted to Hayes that District Court Judge Amit Mehta dismissed a civil claim that the congressman's speech incited the January 6 attack, and that it was constitutionally protected free speech.
Hayes also questioned Brooks about his March remarks where the congressman said that Trump repeatedly asked him to rescind the 2020 election and replace Joe Biden as president.
Hayes asked Brooks whether he is worried that Trump is "not all there or mentally fit" as asking him to rescind a democratic election seems like a "delusional" thing to do.
"If I had been the victim of voter fraud, election fraud activity, I would have wanted the same thing," Brooks said. "I would have wanted to be reinstated, I would have wanted to rescind the election, I would have wanted to do everything."
Brooks was previously endorsed by Trump in the Alabama GOP Senate primary before the former president retracted his backing of the congressman after he said that people should move on from the 2020 election.
Brooks is now attempting to get back the endorsement of Trump after he advanced into a runoff with Katie Britt.
"Join me in asking President Trump to #ReEndorseMo so that we can send a message to Mitch McConnell by sending a real America First conservative to the Senate on June 21," Brooks tweeted on June 5.
