Conservative columnist George Will launched into state politics criticizing ads run by Alabama Republican Sen. Luther Strange that targeted Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., one of his challengers in a special election in the state on August 15.
Strange was appointed senator in February for the seat left open when President Donald Trump appointed former Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Eleven Republicans and eight Democrats qualified to run in the election.
Will called Strange's ads against Brooks a "grotesque" representation the new "normal" for the Republican party, The Hill reported.
"Is this Northern Gothic?" Will asked. "No, it is Republican Gothic, the grotesque becoming normal in a national party whose dishonest and, one hopes, futile assault on Brooks is shredding the remnants of its dignity."
Will took issue with Strange's ads, funded by a political action committee connected to the Senate GOP leadership where he attacks Brooks over comments he made while serving as Alabama chairman of Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-Texas, 2016 presidential run. Brooks at that time criticized Trump's "serial adultery."
Another ad "suggest[s] that Brooks supports the Islamic State," Will explained. He also questioned why Strange was ignoring former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who twice has been removed from his position on the court.