Former President Donald Trump had a bid to host a rally at a fairgrounds in Ohio reportedly rejected by the volunteer board that runs the property, according to a local newspaper.
Portage County Commissioner Tony Badalamenti told the Record-Courier that he spoke multiple times with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and some of the Trump advance team, who said that a representative of the volunteer board provided "multiple reasons" for why the rally would not be allowed.
Badalamenti said that he thought the event could draw anywhere from "10 to 20 thousand people," and add up to "$4 million" in revenue to the region's businesses. He also claimed that contractors in the area would repair the damage done to the fairgrounds by the rally at a lower cost than normal.
"I think the honor of having a president of the United States come to our county and have the limelight on our county … by us turning down the limelight on Portage County, I think is appalling," he said.
Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett told the newspaper that a fair board member told her that the venue has "a long-standing policy" of not hosting political rallies.
Christian-Bennett said she was told that fair boards in Columbiana County were willing to host the event, and she added that she told the Trump team about two other venues in Portage County that "would be willing to entertain" hosting a rally, but said that Trump's people were "fixated" on this location.
"If they're interested in coming to Portage County, there's other places," she said. "I look at it as when one door shuts, there's other ones that open."
The secretary and president of the fair board did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment. Newsmax did not immediately receive a response from a Trump spokesperson for a request for comment.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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