Safety First: Donald Trump Rally Scrapped Due to Severe Weather in North Carolina

DEBARYLIFE – The inclement weather on Saturday forced former President Donald Trump to postpone his event in North Carolina.

It is our goal to ensure everyone’s safety. In a recorded phone conversation, Trump stated, “That’s the most important thing,” adding that they would “just do a rain check” to the assembled attendees at the Wilmington rally.

At Wilmington’s Aero Center, the event was scheduled to happen outside. The news was released about half an hour before Trump was supposed to take the stage at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. An intense thunderstorm warning was issued for the area on Saturday night by the National Weather Service.

Since the criminal trial in New York began earlier this week, this would have been his first campaign rally. All wrongdoing in the case has been denied by Trump.

He and Melania Trump hosted opposing fundraisers on Saturday in two different states: in the afternoon, in North Carolina, before the now-canceled rally, the former president raised money for his campaign and the Republican Party, and in the evening, in Palm Beach, the former first lady raised money for a conservative LGBT organization at the Mar-a-Lago club.

This was Melania Trump’s first appearance at a fundraiser event, especially since she has generally avoided the former president’s campaign trail this election cycle and has only rarely been spotted at private events at his properties.

She has only been seen in public twice, once at a significant Palm Beach fundraiser for Trump and the Republicans earlier this month, where they were able to raise over $50 million, and once last month at a Palm Beach voting place where the former president cast his ballot in the Florida Republican primary.

The largest nonprofit group in the United States promoting LGBT conservatives under 501(c)4, Log Cabin Republicans, had her as the featured speaker at their fundraiser.

Several major Republican donors and longtime supporters of Donald Trump co-hosted the event, including Richard Grenell, a former US ambassador to Germany who also filled the role of acting director of national intelligence during the Trump administration. His appointment to the Cabinet was the first openly gay position ever held by an American.

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Along with Bill White and his spouse Bryan Eure, co-hosts included the previous president of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum and a dedicated fundraiser for the former president.

According to a source and the fundraiser’s invitation, other prominent attendees and co-hosts included longtime Republican donor Saul Fox, Debbie Magowan, the wife of former Giants Chairman Peter Magowan, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate who lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in the general election of 2022.

Tickets were $10,000 apiece, according to the invitation.

Grenell wrote on X before the fundraiser on Saturday morning, stating that Melania Trump “will launch the most aggressive campaign we’ve ever seen from Republicans to win support from gay and lesbian Americans.”

Grenell remarked, “We have largely achieved equality for gays in America,” hailing the country as the defender of liberty and freedom and endorsing Donald Trump.

“He is the best candidate for our safety, security, and prosperity,” he added. “You must be responsible, diligent, and successful in his eyes; you are all equal. The only person trying to control you is the one telling you that because you are gay, you are oppressed in America, or that you require special side agreements. Free yourself from their manipulatives, which resemble a cult.

He went on, “You can be anything you want to be in America,” and predicted that Trump will acquire a sizable portion of the LGBT vote in 2024.

The event sold out in less than 36 hours, according to the fundraiser’s organizer, and more than $1 million has already been raised. Some donors have even contributed even though they were unable to attend.

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According to the organizer, the event was expected to draw about 70 participants from various states, including California, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

“For the first lady to choose this as her first campaign event is an honor to the conservative Republican gay community,” said the organizer to ABC News. “Negates the false narrative that Biden and the Democrats have peddled about the Trump administration.”

The organizer went on, “Unlike any other Republican, Trump has grown the Republican base of all types of minorities.” “The Log Cabin has a clear plan of how this money will be spent to educate voters about President Trump’s record and to help him win with the gay community in swing states.”

Speaking to reporters after three years of the Biden administration, Eure, SVP at insurance brokerage business WillisTowersWatson, thanked the former first lady and stated that many homosexual voters are worried about their future.

“One issue voters are no longer gay voters,” stated Eure, who mentioned that he and his spouse White have been lawfully wed for nearly 13 years. The only question to ask is, “We know what we are getting with both of these candidates—were you better off with Trump or Biden?” he continued, adding that the 2024 election will pit Biden and Trump against each other for a second term. We believe President Trump is the only choice for us.”

Over the years, Melania Trump and Log Cabin Republicans have remained close. In 2021, Melania Trump headlined the group’s annual gala at Mar-a-Lago and was awarded the Spirit of Lincoln award for her work “championing a more inclusive Republican Party” and “helping children reach their full potential.” In 2022, Donald Trump himself headlined the Log Cabin Republicans’ Spirit of Lincoln gala held at Mar-a-Lago, where he told the audience, “We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard.”

Meanwhile in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, Trump fundraised with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who was previously the North Carolina Republican Party’s chairman, as well as Trump’s daughter-in-law and RNC Co-chair Lara Trump.

Ticketed from $5,000 per couple for general admission to $250,000 per couple to be on the host committee, the fundraiser was expected to raise at least $5 million, according to the event’s invitation and the organizer. A photo opportunity with the former president is priced at $25,000 per couple and a roundtable would cost $100,000 per couple.

Money raised from this fundraiser would be split among the Trump campaign, Trump’s Save America PAC, which has footed much of Trump’s legal bills, the RNC, and 40 other state GOP committees.

Notable co-hosts of the fundraiser included North Carolina’s National Committeeman Ed Broyhill, who was previously Trump’s North Carolina Finance Committee chair in 2016, and Army veteran Scott Greenblatt, who runs a veterans claims consulting company.

After the fundraiser, Trump was scheduled to head over to the rally in Wilmington but it was canceled at the last minute due to inclement weather.

“There seems to be some thunder and lighting and it’s a pretty big storm. So if you don’t mind, we’re going to have to just do a rain check,” Trump told the crowd. “I’m so sad — I’m in North Carolina right now and waiting to go in, but they say the weather is getting bad. Getting bad. So we have to rely on the weather service.”

The North Carolina fundraiser comes on the heels of Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper saying President Joe Biden can win the state despite Trump carrying the state both in 2016 and 2020. Both Biden and Harris campaigned in North Carolina last month, highlighting their healthcare messaging.

Broyhill, one of the co-hosts of the Trump fundraiser, however, told ABC News that North Carolina is a GOP stronghold, claiming Republicans success in down-ballot seats.

“I don’t know what people talk about when they say this is a purple state,” Broyhill said. “There is no chance in hell that Joe Biden is going to come close to winning North Carolina.”

“There are quite a large number of top donors that are flying in, and once they arrive, their expectations will far surpass 5 million,” Broyhill said of the upcoming fundraiser.