North Carolina has been a traditional bastion of Republicans where the former US President Donald Trump won both in 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. (Photo: AP)

Palm Beach, May 19 (RHC)-- Former U.S. President Donald Trump is returning to campaign trial next month in the southeastern US state of North Carolina to address a Republican convention, according to party officials.

North Carolina has been a traditional stronghold of Republicans where the former US President Donald Trump won both in 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.  But with 2022 midterm elections approaching, Republicans are looking to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican senator and a staunch Trump critic, in a bid to regain majority in the Congress.

Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said the former U.S. president will chair the state's Republican convention on June 5, as a rebuff to Burr.  "We are honored to welcome President Trump to our convention as the Republican Party launches our campaign to retake Congress and the Senate in the 2022 midterms,” he said in a statement.

Burr, the outgoing U.S. senator from North Carolina, was reprimanded by fellow Republicans in the state after he chose to be one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump of inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

Most Republicans in the United States say they want former President Donald Trump to play a prominent role in the GOP, a new poll shows.  After the Senate vote in February, Burr released a strongly-worded statement, terming January 6th a “grim day” in his country’s history.

“The attack on the U.S. Capitol was an attempt to undermine our democratic institutions and overrule the will of the American people through violence, intimidation, and force,” he remarked.  He accused Trump of “promoting unfounded conspiracy theories” and said the former president directed his supporters to go to the Capitol to disrupt the lawful proceedings required by the Constitution on that day.

Pertinently, Lara Trump, wife of the former US president’s son, Eric Trump, has been rumored to be one of likely contenders to replace Burr.  “In North Carolina, in particular, she’s a household name and people know her. She worked really hard on the campaign and was very involved in a lot of decisions throughout," Trump campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp told the New York Times late last year.

It comes days after the Republican politician from Wyoming Liz Cheney was voted out of House Republican leadership over her strong criticism of Trump and his unfounded claims of election fraud.

The House Republicans have ousted GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney from her post.  She is reportedly planning to challenge the former president for ideological dominance of the Republican Party.

In an interview on ABC News, Cheney said she would do “everything necessary to make sure he (Trump) never gets anywhere close to the Oval Office again."