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Pence cancels Fayetteville stop

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence announced a Monday visit to Fayetteville despite flooding throughout eastern North Carolina.

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Mike Pence in Leland
By
Mark Binker
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Fleeing a disastrous weekend of raunchy rhetoric about women from his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence had been scheduled to arrive in North Carolina Monday as residents cope with still-rising flood waters and wind damage from Hurricane Matthew.

According to schedules sent to supporters and news organizations Saturday night, Pence will visit Charlotte in the early afternoon. He was then scheduled to move onto K3 Enterprises Inc. on Cumberland Street in Fayetteville that evening. Fayetteville has been hit particularly hard by 15 inches of rain in the last two days.

"As for now, the schedule stands," said Kirk Bell, North Carolina spokesman for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. By Sunday morning, the Trump campaign website said the event had been canceled, although the Charlotte stop remains.

Trump himself is supposed to visit Charlotte on Friday. Democratic vice presidential contender Tim Kaine is due to visit Davidson College on Wednesday evening.

Pence's visit would come on the heels of a politically brutal weekend for the Republican ticket after 11-year-old audio of Trump making vulgar remarks about forcing himself on women surfaced Friday. The tape has causes many Republican leaders, including Gov. Pat McCrory, to repudiate their party's standard bearer.

The stops would be Pence's first public events following Sunday night's second presidential debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, during which Trump will likely be pressed on those remarks.

However, more problematic for a campaign stop, the Maze: 'Worst is ahead of us' for floodingCape Fear River in Fayetteville is expected to rise to 52 feet – 17 feet above the flood stage – by Monday. On Saturday night, the city of Fayetteville, as well as Four Oaks, issued a mandatory curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The flood waters could make it perilous for supporters to make it to a gathering. At least three people have died in the state this weekend.

WRAL meteorologists say that, even after the rain stops, overflowing creeks and flooded roads will remain as the water takes time to dissipate. Presidential and vice presidential visits are typically security-heavy affairs, often pulling in local law enforcement. If Pence does arrive, many of those protecting him will have worked through the weekend to help their communities with the storms.

Pence was forced to call off a similar campaign stop in September due to heavy rains.

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