MANCHESTER — Seven weeks after postponing a rally in Portsmouth, President Donald Trump is coming back to New Hampshire.
The president will speak at a reelection event on Friday at a hangar at the Manchester airport, his campaign announced Monday morning.
The event comes after the Trump campaign abruptly canceled a rally at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease that was meant to be held July 11.
That speech was canceled the day before due to concerns over a tropical storm that was due to hit the state, the Trump campaign said.
The rally in July had attracted sharp criticism from New Hampshire Democrats, who said it would attract out-of-state audience members and could become a “super-spreader” event in the time of COVID-19.
On Monday, the two Democratic candidates for governor again attacked the Manchester rally as a health risk, criticizing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu for allowing it to take place.
Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky called it “a matter of life and death,” while Sen. Dan Feltes said it “threatens public health and creates more uncertainty and more concern with schools about to reopen.”
Sununu has taken a mixed approach to Trump’s recent New Hampshire rally attempts.
He has defended the decision to allow the semi-outdoor speeches, pointing to Black Lives Matter and Reopen New Hampshire protests that the state has also permitted since the pandemic began.
But he has also said that he would not attend the July rally himself, pointing to the dangers of infection.
Since the debate over the last rally, the governor has signed an order requiring masks be worn for gatherings of over 100 people.
That order will apply to the rally, the Trump campaign said.