Trump Cancels Portsmouth NH Rally

PORTSMOUTH, NH – Donald Trump’s campaign has announced that it has canceled a rally planned for Great Bay Community College at the Pease Tradeport Monday afternoon due to the terrorist attack in Orlando, FL, that took the lives of 50 people this morning but will still deliver a “major speech” at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College in Manchester, according to a press statement.

“We will make it up in the near future,” the statement noted online of the Portsmouth event.

The events were to be his in the Granite State first since winning the New Hampshire primary back in February.

The IOP event was originally billed as a private press conference that would not be open to the public, according to the school’s website, and the candidate stated he would be offering criticism of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the talk.

The decision to cancel the rally comes just a few hours after Trump issued a statement offering sympathy and support for the victims and their families while also launching a blistering critique of remarks made by both President Barack Obama and Clinton today.

“In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam,’” the candidate posted on his Facebook page. “For that reason alone, he should step down. If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'Radical Islam,' she should get out of this race for the Presidency.”

Trump added that he would be a president “for all Americans” and would “protect and defend all Americas,” while making the nation safer.

“We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism – which has no place in an open and tolerant society,” he said. “Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans.”

Rightside Broadcasting will be livestreaming the IOP speech here.

People for the American Way, Granite State Progress, NextGen Climate, Planned Parenthood, and other organizations were planning actions for Monday outside of both events in the wake of Trump’s criticism of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the judge presiding over the Trump University lawsuit, comments the presidential candidate said were misconstrued.

A post on the IOP’s blog noted that there would not be an area for supporters or protesters to gather at the school during Trump's event.