Former president Donald Trump reportedly wants to oust Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey because he blames her for the cancellation of a MAGA rally that had been planned for July.
Trump recently met with Lynda Blanchard, a former ambassador in his administration, to discuss a possible endorsement if she abandons her Senate campaign and instead challenges Ivey in the 2022 GOP primary, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
"Mr. Trump has privately blamed Ms. Ivey for a state commission decision to block the former president from holding a rally in July at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, which includes a World War II battleship and other historic military aircraft," the newspaper reports. "A spokeswoman for Ms. Ivey had said the governor played no role in that decision."
Commissioners at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park said they canceled the Trump rally because the facility can't be used for partisan political events, the local NBC affiliate reported at the time. They made the decision to cancel the rally after seeking an opinion from the state's Republican attorney general.
Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, told Stars and Stripes in June that the governor was "fully supportive of President Trump and worked closely with him as governor and appreciated his support of our state."
"The Battleship Commissioners approached our office out of concern of a statute that says you cannot use state property for political purposes," Maiola said. "The governor and her team expressed that the law would not bar this event from happening and encouraged them to seek an opinion from the attorney general."
In August, Ivey posted photos on social media of her welcoming Trump to the state for a rally in Cullman.
"I was honored and thrilled to welcome President Trump back to Sweet Home Alabama today," Ivey said in a statement. "His America First Agenda is something that we believe in firmly here in Alabama."
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