MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump is postponing his planned rally Saturday in New Hampshire, the White House said, citing a tropical storm threatening parts of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England.
“The rally scheduled for Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been postponed for safety reasons because of Tropical Storm Fay,†Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.
The event was to mark Trump's first political rally after a multiweek hiatus caused by a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases and after his planned comeback in Oklahoma turned into a debacle.
The Portsmouth rally was scheduled after aides spent weeks studying what went wrong in Tulsa three weeks ago.
It was unclear how many people would attend the New Hampshire rally, campaign officials acknowledged.
Unlike the one in Tulsa, which was held indoors where the virus more easily circulates, the rally in Portsmouth was to be partially outdoors, held in an airplane hangar open on one side with the crowd spilling out onto the tarmac before Air Force One.
“All of Donald Trump’s rallies and all of his events are electric,†said campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley.
Oklahoma health officials said the rally and accompanying protests “likely contributed†to a surge in infections in the city.
The choice to hold the rally in New Hampshire, where the president is trailing significantly, in part reflects the current lack of options, said four campaign officials and Republicans close to the endeavor who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.
Chris Sununu, a Republican, may meet with Trump on Saturday but has said he won't attend the rally.
There has been talk of displaying statues of American heroes at the rally, two campaign officials said.
The Trump campaign has also been eager to return to the road to draw a contrast with Biden, whom it's painted as being marooned in the basement of his Delaware home.
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