President Donald Trump walks to his vehicle after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for a fundraiser, Friday, July 10, 2020, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

MIAMI (AP) — Friday was supposed to be the day President Donald Trump’s campaign reboot itself got a reboot. Instead, it hit another snag.

Amid uncertainty over whether he can still draw big and enthusiastic crowds to his signature rallies in the coronavirus era, Trump postponed a planned Saturday rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, citing a tropical storm expected to hit a swath of the Eastern United States.

“With Tropical Storm Fay heading towards the Great State of New Hampshire this weekend, we are forced to reschedule our Portsmouth, New Hampshire Rally at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease,” Trump tweeted. “Stay safe, we will be there soon!”

The latest setback came as the Trump campaign casts about for ways to reverse its recent downward slide in the polls at a time when the president is facing widespread criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his harsh stance against those protesting racial injustice.

With growing whispers of a staff shakeup and behind-the-scenes finger-pointing among White House, campaign and Republican Party officials, the campaign has been looking for something to reverse the negative momentum.

But attack lines against Democratic rival Joe Biden have failed to get traction and attempts to get Trump back on the road have faltered. His rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, three weeks ago was intended to mark his triumphal return to the trail, but it produced a surprisingly sparse crowd and campaign travel again was put on hold.

Trump’s visit to Florida was supposed to launch back-to-back days of high-profile campaigning but instead wound up being a one-off. He did fit in a campaign fundraiser in South Florida and events focused on government counternarcotics efforts and support for the Venezuelan people.

At his Doral event with Venezuelan expatriates, Trump courted a segment of Florida’s diverse Hispanic population by sharpening an emerging attack line: Biden might not be a socialist, but he is running past his expiration date and controlled by an ascendant liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

“Republicans are the party of freedom, and Democrats are the party of socialism and worse,” Trump said.

His visit to Florida took him to terrain where COVID-19’s surge threatens his hold on a must-win state and raises questions about Republican aims to hold their nominating convention in Jacksonville next month.

Biden pointed to Florida’s rising coronavirus cases, saying, “It is clear that Trump’s response — ignore, blame others, and distract — has come at the expense of Florida families.”

But Saturday’s New Hampshire visit was more problematic. Campaign officials privately acknowledged there had been fears all along about how many people would attend the Portsmouth rally. After the disappointing turnout in Tulsa, aides were intent on avoiding a repeat.

Once the storm entered the forecast, even if the rain was expected to stop in the hours before the rally, concerns about turnout only grew. For the event’s scheduled start time Saturday evening, Weather.Com forecast a 15% chance of rain.

But there was also strong opposition to Trump’s rally among some prominent New Hampshire Republicans. Judd Gregg, who previously served New Hampshire both as a governor and senator, bluntly called Trump’s planned appearance “a mistake.”

“New Hampshire has been extremely aggressive under the governor in containing the virus,” Gregg said in an interview with The Associated Press, confirming that he had not planned to attend. “People are concerned about folks bringing the problem to us.”

Trump, with just months left before voters decide whether to reelect him, has been eager to signal that normal life can resume despite a rampaging virus that has killed more than 130,000 Americans.

Unlike the rally in Tulsa, which was held indoors where the virus more easily circulates, the rally in Portsmouth was to be partially outdoors, held in an airplane hangar open on one side with the crowd spilling out onto the tarmac before Air Force One.

Moreover, while masks were distributed in Tulsa, few rallygoers wore them after weeks of Trump deriding their use. This time, the campaign had strongly encouraged their use.

The venue was to be significantly smaller than the cavernous Tulsa arena, and aides had deliberately set lower expectations for crowd size. Before the Oklahoma event, which spurred days of protests, campaign manager Brad Parscale boasted that a million ticket requests had been received. The Tulsa fire marshal said 6,000 people attended.

New Hampshire has had a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, while those in Oklahoma were rising before Trump arrived. Oklahoma health officials said the rally and accompanying protests “likely contributed” to a surge in infections in the city. Several campaign staffers and Secret Service agents tested positive for the virus.

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PORTSMOUTH – President Donald Trump will host a re-election rally in Portsmouth at 8 p.m. Saturday, and those attending must sign a waiver acknowledging they “assume all risks” of contracting COVID-19.

“As governor, I will always welcome the president of the United States to New Hampshire,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a news release earlier this week.

“I am pleased to see the campaign will be handing out face masks and hand sanitizer to all attendees, as has been true at all public gatherings in New Hampshire where social distancing is hard to maintain. It is imperative that folks attending the rally wear masks.”

Before the event was announced, Sununu said he would not be attending any large political rallies because of the highly transmissible virus and has urged the public to wear a mask in public. He has, though, refused to make mask wearing mandatory. The virus has killed nearly 400 New Hampshire residents.

Last week, Sununu ended the requirement for travelers to New Hampshire to attest they had self-quarantined for 14 days ahead of a trip, and the requirement is only lifted for visitors from the five other New England states.

The two Democrats running in the primary to take on Sununu – state Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, and Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky, D-Concord – were critical of the Trump rally.

Feltes called on Sununu to issue a public health order for the rally, adding the Portsmouth City Council was considering a mask requirement for the event. Feltes said Trump previously held a rally in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in which more than 6,000 attended and later resulted in increased COVID-19 cases.

“Given the impact of prior Trump rallies on public health, like the uptick in COVID-19 cases after Trump’s Tulsa rally, Gov. Sununu should issue an order to require social distancing and masks and cancel the event if the Trump campaign will not comply. Gov. Sununu has kept the ‘state of emergency’ in place and has the authority to do this. Public health of Granite Staters should take priority over politics,” Feltes said.

Sununu reinterated late in the week that he will not issue a mandatory mask order. He also has said he will greet Trump, but will not remain in the crowd.

Volinsky said it was three (executive) council meetings ago that he asked Sununu to issue an order requiring masks at indoor events.

“Sununu said public health data does not support the effectiveness of wearing a mask. That’s not a true statement,” Volinsky said.

“I am really concerned about people standing shoulder to shoulder (whether inside or outside.) It’s too dangerous and irresponsible,” Volinsky said, suggesting Trump is holding the rally in southern New Hampshire to draw a larger crowd from Massachusetts as well.

The event will be at Portsmouth Regional Airport at Pease, 36 Airline Ave., with the gates opening at 4 p.m. and the event set to begin at 8 p.m.

This event will be held outdoors.

In his news release, Sununu said from the outset of the pandemic, the state has not stopped or prevented individuals from peacefully assembling, including marches led by Black Lives Matter and protests from Reopen NH.

Those who attend, including media “assume all risks” and waive, release and discharge, Donald J. Trump for President Inc., Portsmouth International Airport at Pease and any of their affiliates … all liability under any theory, whether in negligence or otherwise, for any illness or injury.

The president was last in New Hampshire just before its first-in-the-nation presidential primary in February at Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester. He won the Republican primary, just as he did four years earlier.

It was Trump’s first political rally after the Senate acquitted him of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He held another rally in New Hampshire last August at the same venue.

InDepthNH.org reporter Nancy West contributed to this report.