U.S. Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard on Saturday evening held a fundraiser for her Republican campaign at Mar-a-Lago, the storied Florida resort owned by former President Donald J. Trump.
The fundraiser was not hosted by Trump, and he was not scheduled to attend.
However, as evidenced by pictures from the event obtained by Yellowhammer News, Trump did indeed stop by. While the resort functions as a private membership club, Trump also maintains his primary residence at Mar-a-Lago.
A source who attended the event estimated that more than 50 people attended the Blanchard fundraiser, including multiple fellow former Trump ambassadors.
Blanchard served as the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia after being nominated to the post by Trump in 2018. As highlighted in Blanchard’s campaign announcement video released last month, Slovenia is the home country of former first lady Melania Trump.
This drew a mention from Trump at Saturday’s event, which he ended up attending for about 15 minutes.
“[Y]ou’ve announced, and it’s a big story,” the former president remarked to Blanchard in front of the assembled crowd. “I can say you did a great job as ambassador.”
Referring to Blanchard and her husband, Trump continued, “Both of you were representatives of this country, and you both did a fantastic job. And I know something about Slovenia — you know that it’s a little paradise over there.”
He did not make an endorsement during the fundraiser.
As first reported by Fox News, Trump at the event was also presented with a framed copy of a resolution passed by the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee last month.
The resolution honors Trump as “one of the greatest and most effective presidents” in American history. Former State Rep. Perry Hooper (R-Montgomery), the sponsor of the resolution, made the presentation.
Besides Blanchard, no other candidate has yet to announce in the 2022 race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). Blanchard is currently running television ads during March Madness games and on Fox News Channel.
She and her husband were major donors to Trump in the 2016 and 2020 cycles.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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