Portsmouth Trump Rally Postponed Due To Tropical Storm Fay
PORTSMOUTH, NH — President Donald Trump's rally set for Saturday night in Portsmouth has been postponed due to Tropical Storm Fay.
The Trump campaign cited safety reasons for the delay. The storm is expected to hit southern New Hampshire Saturday. The rally was supposed to be held partially outdoors in an aircraft hanger.
The campaign did not cite the coronavirus in the postponement decision.
"The rally scheduled for Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been postponed for safety reasons because of Tropical Storm Fay," said campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh. "It will be rescheduled and a new date will be announced soon."
A pool reporter aboard Air Force One said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the rally will be delayed "a week or two."
Trump is still expected to attend a fundraiser in Florida Friday. It will be his first in-person fundraiser in a month.
The Portsmouth rally was supposed to reset Trump's re-election campaign after an embarrassing turnout three weeks ago in Tulsa. The president has fallen well behind former Vice President Joe Biden in many polls as the country reacts to his handling of the coronavirus and a national reckoning on race.
Both Democrat activists and Black Lives Matter also postponed plans to counter the Trump rally.
Samatha Searles, the communications director for Black Lives Matter Nashua, said the org would be postponing its rally which was scheduled for a few hours before.
"Donald Trump has postponed his Portsmouth rally tomorrow, Saturday July 11, citing 'bad weather,'" she said. "When his campaign reschedules this event, we’ll be there to protest it, rain or shine."
The New Hampshire Democratic Party had planned a press call for Saturday morning featuring state chairman Ray Buckley, outgoing state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth, Laurie McCray, the chairwoman of the Portsmouth Democratic Committee and a retired nurse, and Joan Jacobs, a retired analyst from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"Chris Sununu did not cancel this rally and was willing to risk the health and safety of Granite Staters to appease Donald Trump but not his own," Buckley said. "Now, Mother Nature has apparently intervened to protect the health of Granite Staters when Chris Sununu refused. Chris Sununu will have to spend his time from now until when this superspreader rally takes place explaining why he is still willing to protect himself and willing to jeopardize Granite Staters’ health."
Related: Portsmouth Was Supposed To Be Reboot For Trump's Campaign
Tony Schinella of Patch in New Hampshire contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on the Portsmouth Patch
