President Trump Holds Rally In Londonderry, New Hampshire
LONDONDERRY, N.H. (CBS/AP) — President Donald Trump was back on the campaign trail in New Hampshire less than 24 hours after accepting and headlining the Republican National Convention at the White House.
Trump's supporters started lining up well before sunrise for his rally Friday evening in Londonderry.
"I got here last night about 9 o'clock and I slept in a folding chair," Edward X. Young told WBZ-TV. Young said being at a Trump rally goes beyond political party lines. "If you just care about history you ought to experience it once so you can say, 'I saw it with my own eyes,'" he said.
The president addressed supporters at a hangar at Pro Star Aviation on Kelly Avenue.
In New Hampshire, masks are mandated for events with more than 100 people, and the Trump campaign said they would be provided.
Approximately 1,400 people attended the rally Friday night, and many did not wear masks according to CBS News White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang.
Trump opened the New Hampshire rally with rant against demonstrators who accosted guests departing his Thursday convention speech at the White House and at times needed to be escorted by police officers.
"They walked out to a bunch of thugs," Trump said. "Unhinged, manic rage. You ought to see last night in Washington, it was a disgrace."
Trump said the protesters were "anarchists," adding: "They're just looking for trouble. Has nothing to do with George Floyd. Has nothing to do with anything. They don't even know who George Floyd is."
"The agitators will go from rioting in the streets to running the halls of government," he added, saying voters needed to support him to "save democracy from the mob."
"No one will be safe in Biden's America," he added.
Speaking in New Hampshire, a state he lost in 2016 by fewer than 2,000 votes and is a top pickup opportunity for him in 2020, Trump repeated unfounded allegations that thousands of voters were bused into the state from neighboring Massachusetts four years ago.
Trump also launched a new attack on Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, speculating on the possibility that she could assume the presidency from the 78-year-old Biden. "You know I want to see the first woman president also, but I don't want to see a woman president get into that position the way she'd do it, and she's not competent," Trump said. "She's not competent."
He suggested his own daughter, White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, as a more suitable occupant for the Oval Office.
Friday's rally was going be held at the PeriCohas Hangar near Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, but it was moved to Londonderry on Thursday. The Trump campaign did not say why it made the change.
The rally was originally supposed to happen in July, but the Trump campaign postponed it because of Tropical Storm Fay.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)