President Trump has postponed his rally planned for Saturday in Portsmouth, N.H., due to the threat of a tropical storm, his campaign said Friday in a decision that took several people preparing for the event by surprise.
“The rally scheduled for Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been postponed for safety reasons because of Tropical Storm Fay. It will be rescheduled and a new date will be announced soon,” communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.
Trump tweeted shortly thereafter, “With Tropical Storm Fay heading towards the Great State of New Hampshire this weekend, we are forced to reschedule our Portsmouth, New Hampshire Rally at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. Stay safe, we will be there soon!”
With Tropical Storm Fay heading towards the Great State of New Hampshire this weekend, we are forced to reschedule our Portsmouth, New Hampshire Rally at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. Stay safe, we will be there soon! #MAGA2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2020
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters traveling to Florida with the president on Friday that the event would be delayed by a week or two.
The postponement of the outdoor rally set among the airplane hangars at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease took several people associated with the campaign locally by surprise, with several telling the Herald they were unaware of the change even as news began to spread.
“We’re very disappointed, but the safety of these people comes first,” said MassGOP committeeman Tom Mountain.
Noting that Trump’s Granite State events tend to draw people from across New England, Mountain said, “We don’t want to inconvenience people by bringing them all the way there and having them stand in line for so many hours and suddenly having to cancel it.”
The forecast in Portsmouth for Saturday calls for showers and possible thunderstorms mainly before 3 p.m., with a chance for both later in the afternoon. There’s an 80% chance of precipitation during the day.
The midday announcement came less than 24 hours after the president told the Herald’s Howie Carr he was raring to go for his third trip to New Hampshire in less than a year.
And it came amid growing concerns among some Portsmouth officials over the spread of coronavirus after a top Tulsa, Okla., health official said the president’s late June rally there and the protests associated with it “more than likely” contributed to a spike in cases. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu cited public health concerns in saying he wouldn’t be attending the Portsmouth event.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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