Hurricane Joaquin is already taking a toll on the 2016 presidential race.
Donald Trump canceled a campaign event planned for Friday in Virginia Beach, Va., while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference on Thursday to detail how his state is preparing for the storm and also announced he would be skipping campaign appearances in New Hampshire.
“I’ll do my job first. That’s why I’m not going to New Hampshire tomorrow,” Christie said, adding that the state was better prepared than it was for Superstorm Sandy three years ago.
And Ben Carson got caught unprepared when asked how he would handle the hurricane.
Trump said in a statement that the rally would be rescheduled as soon as possible.
“While we were expecting 10,000 people based on demand, and it would have been a happening, everyone’s safety is of far more importance to me,” Trump said. “We will reschedule the event very soon and I look forward to being there.”
Christie told reporters that he was canceling campaigning in New Hampshire and will remain in New Jersey until at least Tuesday to oversee the state’s hurricane response.
Carson had his own issues with Hurricane Joaquin. As he was leaving a New Hampshire event Wednesday, a reporter asked the retired neurosurgeon with no experience in government how he would prepare for Hurricane Joaquin if he were in the White House.
“I don’t know,” Carson replied.
In August, Jeb Bush spoke in Pensacola — chosen, the campaign said at the time, because it was the epicenter of Hurricane Ivan’s impact in 2004 — where the former Florida governor argued that his effective emergency management style was one of his credentials for becoming president.
“Florida was ready,” Bush said.