Lynda Blanchard’s fledgling campaign to succeed retiring Alabama GOP Sen. Richard Shelby seemed to be progressing smoothly as she mingled with donors inside Mar-a-Lago’s gilded ballroom last Saturday.
She had the bio, having served as ambassador to Slovenia — the native home of former First Lady Melania Trump. She had the connections, having received a surprise visit from former President Donald Trump at one point in the evening. She even had the public shout out to tout on the trail.
“I can say you did a great job as ambassador,” Trump had told the crowd.
But within days, Blanchard’s effort to position herself as the Trump-approved candidate in the race was thrown into jeopardy as it became clear that the 45th president was leaning toward supporting Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in the GOP primary for Shelby’s seat. Four people familiar with Trump’s thinking said Brooks was his preferred candidate and would most likely receive an endorsement in the foreseeable future — if not on Monday, when Brooks is due to formally launch his campaign, then at a later point in the race.
“President Trump could jump out on Monday and do it, but he is also interested in waiting to make a big splash later on,” said one of the people familiar with Trump’s thinking.
Even Brooks himself seemed confident in Trump’s backing. During a phone call Wednesday afternoon — which was overheard by these two reporters as the Alabama member of congress was entering a conservative hub on Capitol Hill — Brooks told an unidentified person: “The president told me that when I do announce he would say good, strong, positive things about me.” Brooks’ team did not respond to a request for comment.
Indeed, few in Trump’s inner circle expected that the former president would ever endorse Blanchard over Brooks, who was among the first Republican lawmakers to announce a challenge against the 2020 election results last December and had the “inside track” for the 45th president’s nod, according to one Trump aide.
Source: politico.com, rawstory.com
SUPPORT OUR CHANNELS:
Please help support alternative media. We follow the truth, wherever it leads. We reject absolutely big-tech and the narrow, dogmatic views of MSM. Although we are new to the arena, the MSM and its watchdogs–Snopes, Media Matters, Politifact, etc.–have waged war on us. We need your help to thrive, so that we can present important, unique news not found elsewhere. If you appreciate this content, please link to it across your social media feeds to help us grow. Thank you.
