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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-e ... -rcna30308
While sticking to a Trump-style platform, Brooks did something that many Republicans on the outs with the former president haven't done: He snapped back.
Brooks accused Trump of letting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with whom Trump has a famously bitter relationship, "manipulate him again."
And he got away with it — at least for now. If he manages to win in the runoff, he will provide another proof point for the case that GOP voters can look past the former president's endorsements — both those given and those withdrawn.
"No one has 100 percent influence,” Brooks told NBC News. “There are varying degrees of influence in different parts of the country.”