Trump campaign postpones North Carolina rally, citing weather

The Trump campaign postponed a rally scheduled to take place in North Carolina on Thursday evening, citing weather conditions.

“Because of a wind advisory issued with gusts reaching 50 miles per hour and other weather conditions, the outdoor Fayetteville, NC rally has been postponed until Monday,” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.

The president was slated to rally supporters in Fayetteville. But the area was under a wind advisory and other parts of the state were under a tropical storm warning, according to local reports, as the remnants of Hurricane Zeta made its way up the coast.

The Fayetteville rally would have been Trump’s third appearance in North Carolina in recent weeks, highlighting the importance of the state to his reelection prospects. Trump won North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes by 3 percentage points in 2016, but polls heading into next week show him narrowly trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the state.

Trump’s last event in North Carolina came one week ago in Gaston. The Gaston County Department of Health & Human Services announced Thursday that two individuals who attended the rally have since tested positive for COVID-19.

The positive cases underscore the risks of Trump’s events, where thousands of supporters pack in close together and only a smattering of attendees wear masks. But Trump has dismissed the threat of the virus, even as cases and hospitalizations surge upward and public health experts warn that the winter months could bring a rise in deaths.

“We know the disease. We social distance, we do all of the things you have to do. … You know the bottom line, though? You’re gonna get better,” Trump told supporters in Florida on Thursday afternoon.