Weather Doesn't Cooperate With Trump's Campaign Plans

What was to be Donald Trump's first planned rally since the start of his criminal hush-money trial was called off at the last minute Saturday due to a storm. As he approached North Carolina's airport in Wilmington, Trump called in to the rally site, his voice amplified to the crowd via speakers. "I'm devastated that this could happen but we want to keep everybody safe," he said roughly 30 minutes before he was scheduled to take the stage in front of some 7,000 to 8,000 people, reports the Guardian. "I'm so sad," added Trump, who pledged to reschedule a "bigger and better" event at the same location "as quick as possible."

• Bad timing: It was a tough turn of events for Trump, who spent four days in a Manhattan courtroom while President Biden was able to hold several campaign events in Pennsylvania. As the AP puts it, "Instead of commanding attention on his own terms at one of his signature mass rallies, his next public appearance is almost certainly going to be Monday, back at the defendant's table for opening arguments."
• Schedule: Trump's next campaign appearance hasn't been announced, but his available openings are slim as the trial could take more than a month. Trump aides say they are planning weekend rallies and events on Wednesdays, the one weekday the trial is expected to be in recess. Additional weeknight appearances around New York are also expected.
• Spotlight on North Carolina: It's a critical battleground state, one that Trump won over Biden by less than 1.5 percentage points in 2020; it's the closest margin of any state Trump won. The AP notes it is one of seven states that both the Trump and Biden campaigns have said they will pour significant campaign resources into.
• A standout quote: "I'm mad at Mother Nature, but I stand behind Trump," said Cheryl Lynn Johnson, who drove two hours to reach the site for what would have been her fourth Trump rally.
• What supporters think of the trial: They mostly aren't thinking about it at all, found Politico in interviews with the Wilmington crowd. It spoke with dozens of supporters at the event and reports just a single person brought up the trial unprompted. "Their faces went blank," when Politico asked some supporters about it; others simply said they weren't following it.

(More Donald Trump stories.)