July 10, 2020 | 1:27pm | Updated July 10, 2020 | 2:24pm
WASHINGTON — President Trump has been forced to cancel an outdoor rally scheduled for New Hampshire this Saturday, his campaign blaming “safety reasons” from Tropical Storm Fay.
In a statement, Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh said the rally would be rescheduled.
“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,” Murtaugh said.
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also told reporters aboard Air Force One that the Portsmouth rally would likely be delayed by “a week or two.”
A storm warning is in effect for much of the Northeast, with Tropical Storm Fay expected to make landfall on the New Jersey coast sometime Friday afternoon.
Several coastal towns in Delaware and New Jersey have already been flooded and damaging winds of up to 60 mph have been recorded.
The rally was slated to be held on the tarmac at Portsmouth International Airport due to concerns that the coronavirus would spread through the crowd, and attendees were told to wear face coverings.
Trump himself tweeted, “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!”
Air Force One was going to be the backdrop of the rally, Fox News reported, with construction at the airport already well underway when the rally was canceled.
The New Hampshire event would have been the president’s first event since his event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally last month made headlines when it was poorly attended.
The postponement of the event is sure to come as a blow to the Trump campaign, which has been desperate to get the president back on the road after the coronavirus pandemic forced him to suspend most of his re-election events.
