Former President Donald Trump has discussed giving his endorsement to U.S. Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard if she drops her bid and runs for governor against Kay Ivey, according to a report published Friday.
Trump is said to be unhappy with Ivey, whom he blames for the cancellation of a July 3 “Freedom Rally” at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, according to the story in the Wall Street Journal.
The rally had been rejected by the USS Alabama Battleship Commission amid some commissioners’ concerns that about the legality of hosting an event that could be construed as “partisan,” which they believed violates Alabama state law.
Ivey, by the nature of her elected office, serves as the honorary chairman of the commission, but advised the commission that state law would not bar the event.
Neither Blanchard’s campaign nor a spokeswoman for Ivey could be reached by AL.com.
A spokeswoman for the governor told the Wall Street Journal that she did not play a role in the rejecting the July 4th weekend Mobile rally that was to be a celebration of military veterans attended by Trump.
Blanchard was Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia. She is facing off against Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, whom the former president has endorsed, and ex-Richard Shelby Chief of Staff Katie Britt.
It’s unclear whether Blanchard is weighing Trump’s reported offer of an endorsement in Alabama’s gubernatorial race and dropping out of the Senate campaign.