Health

Trump rally planned in New Hampshire on Saturday

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — It has been five months since President Trump visited NH, but that was before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This Saturday at 8 pm, he will be back, this time at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease in Portsmouth.

"If you are a person who thinks twice about going to the grocery stores, standing in line to go to Costco, then you should probably not come," said Trump 2020 Advisory Board Member Paris Dennard. "But if you're healthy and you're safe, and you take precautions like wearing a face mask and having hand sanitizer and doing social distancing on a normal basis, then you should come out to the rally. It's an open-air rally."

The Trump campaign says it will provide masks and hand sanitizer, at his Portsmouth visit Saturday night. But amidst fears of a second wave, Democratic Portsmouth city councilor Deaglan McEachern fears the president and some of the crowd won’t wear them, similar to what we saw in Tulsa.

“We have all done a hell of a lot of work to keep this virus in check and it’s very disappointing to see that someone who has very little disregard for public safety to decide to pick our town,” said McEachern. “It probably would be different (with Biden) because Biden has been using facemasks has been encouraging face mask.”

From the outset of this pandemic, the state has not stopped or prevented individuals from peacefully assembling, including marches led by Black Lives Matter and protests from Reopen NH.

“As Governor I will always welcome the President of the United States to New Hampshire,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “I am pleased to see the campaign will be handing out face masks and hand sanitizer to all attendees, as has been true at all public gatherings in NH where social distancing is hard to maintain. It is imperative that folks attending the rally wear masks.”

The Governor’s schedule is still being finalized. In the past, the Governor has greeted the President upon arrival at the airport. If the Governor greets the President at the airport, he says he will be wearing a mask.

Matt Mowers who Trump endorsed for New Hampshire’s first congressional district responded in a tweet, “I am excited to welcome President Trump back to the First Congressional District, and I am proud to have received his endorsement. This trip shows how important winning this district and New Hampshire is to the President.”

"The President wants to ensure that people on the ballot both in New Hampshire and across the country are people who number one can win, but number two, the President wants to ensure that there is going to be a strong showing of support for his agenda," said Dennard. "The President's agenda is one that has been producing amazing results for the American people even in the middle of COVID-19."

But McEachern points to the lack of a mask mandate and decreasing poll numbers for the visit. Saying he’s confident residents know about the tight 2016 margin and won’t waste votes, even on the newly announced candidate Kanye West.

"President Trump has removed many doubts around his presidency and what another four years would look like so I am confident in the voters in New Hampshire regardless of how many folks are on the ballot," said McEachern.

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