It has been noted that a Trump campaign rally set for Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 20 was pushed back due to severe thunderstorms via The Epoch Times.
A crowd of several hundred had gathered outdoors at the Wilmington International Airport for the 7 p.m. event. It has been noted that lightning streaks were visible in the distance as high winds drove the storm toward the event site, framing the bleachers, podium, and “Make America Great Again” sign in thick, dark clouds.
It was just after 6:30 p.m. that former President Donald Trump, who had intended to fly to the rally from Charlotte, North Carolina, addressed the crowd via telephone.
“We want to make sure that everybody is safe, above all,” President Trump said. “And so they’ve asked us to ask people to leave the site and seek shelter.”
It has been noted that President Trump added that the rally would be rescheduled soon at the same site. “I just want to thank you. I’m so sorry,” he said. “God be with you.”
The called-out rally, planned to bolster support in a state President Trump carried by a narrow margin in 2020, highlights the difficulty of conducting a presidential campaign while standing trial in the first of four criminal prosecutions. President Trump had carried North Carolina in the previous two elections. However, his margin of victory decreased significantly in 2020. In 2016, he won by 3.6 percentage points.
Four years later, the margin was just 1.4 percent. Wilmington, with a metropolitan population of nearly 470,000, is one of the state’s most densely populated areas. President Joe Biden carried the city and surrounding county by 2.1 percent in 2020.
“The Wilmington market and southeastern North Carolina are important to winning statewide,” Matt Mercer of the North Carolina Republican Party told The Epoch Times.
