Former President Donald Trump is coming to Alabama.
The former president will be joining other speakers on The American Freedom Tour (AFT), which is currently only scheduled in two cities.
The all-day event will be hosted in Birmingham on June 18 in a yet-to-be-announced venue.
The event will feature several speakers alongside Trump, including Donald Trump Jr, Dinesh D’Souza, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb.
According to the AFT website, the tour is designed to equip conservatives to "take back America."
“The American Freedom Tour with President Donald J. Trump is the nation’s preeminent political event series designed to equip conservatives across the country to Win Back America,” the site reads. “We celebrate the greatness of America and the four pillars of conservatism – Faith, Family, Finances and Freedom.”
Trump has not yet detailed the specific nature or content of his speech. Many are speculating that the former president could be announcing his new U.S Senate endorsement after withdrawing his previous support of Senate candidate Mo Brooks.
On March 22, Trump withdrew his endorsement of Brooks after polls showed the congressman trailing, in third place. An independent poll conducted on behalf of 1819 News, alongside other statewide polls, showed Brooks coming in last among the three main candidates. In a survey of likely Republican voters conducted from March 15-17, 29.2% said they would vote for Mike Durant if the election were held today, while 27.1% chose Katie Britt and 23.3% chose Mo Brooks.
Very shortly after the series of polls, Trump announced that he was rescinding his endorsement of Brooks, citing a 2020 speech in which Brooks told the audience to put the results of the 2020 presidential election behind them.
“When I endorsed Mo Brooks, he took a 44-point lead and was unstoppable,” Trump said in a statement. “He then hired a new campaign staff who ‘brilliantly’ convinced him to ‘stop talking about the 2020 Election.' He listened to them. Then, according to the polls, Mo’s 44-point lead totally evaporated, all based on his ‘2020’ statement made at our massive rally in Cullman, Alabama. When I heard his statement, I said, ‘Mo, you just blew the [e]lection, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’”
Since Trump parted ways with Brooks, the two leading U.S Senate candidates announced their desire to gain the much-desired endorsement.
Katie Britt and her husband, Wesley, met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., hoping to garner his support.
“I had the opportunity to sit down with him; Wesley and I did,” Britt said. “It was a great conversation. He and Wesley got to catch up a little bit about the Super Bowl and things like that. We got to update him on the race. We got to tell him about our grassroots campaign.”
Senate candidate Mike Durant also met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where they discussed the issues facing Alabama.
“Spent almost an hour with him,” Durant said. “It was great. I hadn’t met him before. And I really appreciate the opportunity to let him know a little more about me and certainly understand what’s important to him, you know, because he cares about the country. And he wants to see the right person in this seat."
Durant subsequently discussed the 2020 Presidential election in which he stated that he did not believe that Biden won the election.
“The bottom line is I don’t think Joe Biden won the election,” Durant said. “And the reason I don’t think that ... changing the rules. When you suddenly make voting by mail easier than showing up in person -- I mean, that just begs for fraud. You can’t deny that.”
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com
