GOP Rep. Mo Brooks urged conservatives to ‘fight back’ and not ‘surrender,’ invoking the Revolutionary War in CPAC speech

• Mo Brooks referenced the Revolutionary War during a speech at CPAC in Dallas on Friday.
• Brooks told attendees they need to “fight back” and think about “sacrifice” like “our ancestors” did.
• Brooks made similar remarks before the Capitol riot, when he told protesters to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”
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Rep. Mo Brooks urged conservatives to “fight back” and “sacrifice” during his speech Friday in Dallas, Texas, at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, is running for US Senate with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. His speech was reminiscent of remarks Brooks made on January 6 during the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Capitol attack, during which he told protesters to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”

“Now our choice is simple. We can surrender and submit or we can fight back as our ancestors have done,” Brooks said Friday, invoking the Revolutionary War and suggesting conservatives should be thinking about a comparable sacrifice.

Read more: Biden’s pick to oversee Capitol riot cases is expected to be a former public corruption prosecutor

“Think for a moment about our ancestors who fought at Valley Forge. They didn’t fight the British, they fought for survival,” Brooks said, referencing thousands of Continental soldiers who died over the course of six months.

“That’s the kind of sacrifice that we have to think about,” he continued. “And I ask you: are you willing to fight for America? Are you willing to fight for America?”

-Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) July 9, 2021

Brooks is being sued by California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who alleges Brooks is responsible for the thousands of rioters who breached the Capitol. Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Rudy Giuliani are also targeted in the lawsuit.

According to a recent court filing, Brooks said he “represented the will” of his constituents when he told the protesters to fight hours before the riot. His attorneys also insisted Brooks only appeared at the rally because the White House had asked him to.

During his CPAC speech, Brooks also repeated Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about voter and election fraud.