Phoenix: Arizona's Republican Governor will not attend Donald Trump's rally amid fears over potential violence

Arizona's governor Doug Ducey will greet him at the airport but not attend Donald Trump's political rally in the state, amid fears the event could attract groups seeking violence.

Mr Ducey's spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said in a statement that the governor's "focus has been working with law enforcement toward a safe event in downtown Phoenix...That will continue to be his priority during the event and afterwards."

Mr Ducey has in the past been a huge supporter of the President in the staunchly Republican southwerstern state. However, fellow Republicans and Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake's criticism of Mr Trump's comments after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia may have changed that.

The President's commented that "many sides" were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville and that there were "innocent" people on the side of neo-Nazis and the Klu Klux Klan who were simply there to preserve their heritage through keeping the statue of Civil War Confederate General Robert E Lee intact.

Mr McCain, who is undergoing cancer treatment in Arizona, tweeted afterwards that: "there's no moral equivalency between racists [and] Americans standing up to defy hate [and] bigotry. The President of the United States should say so."

Mr Flake, for his part, has been a consistent critic of Mr Trump and it prompted the President to wade into Arizona state politics and favour Mr Flake's opponent - another reason Mr Ducey may be avoiding the rally.

Over 6,000 people have indicated an intention to attend the rally, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the department would have "maximum staffing" for the rally as anti-fascist, anti-right wing, and pro-Trump supporters number among the attendees.

Mr Ducey also has reason to avoid attending the rally if Mr Trump decides to pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted for running police patrols illegally racially profiling and targeting Mexican and Latin American immigrants in Arizona.

Some in the state see that as a potential point of embarrassment for the governor.

Mr Trump won the state in the 2016 election by a smaller margin than previous Republican presidential candidates. He is expected to speak about illegal immigration and the border wall during a pre-rally visit to a US marine corps base on the US-Mexico border.

Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego critcised Mr Ducey's decision: “It’s not a coincidence at all that instead of showing leadership, Governor Ducey is running away and running away as fast as possible."

This will be Mr Trump's eighth political rally since becoming President. He filed his paperwork for the 2020 election during his first week in office.