Trump skips Alabama-Georgia game, plans Tennessee rally

President Donald Trump said Friday he would skip Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, citing the need to keep emergency personnel focused on Hurricane Isaias rather than his security. He said he would travel to Tennessee for a rally supporting Republican candidates Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn instead. Trump had been scheduled to attend the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. In a social media post, he said he hoped the matchup would go ahead despite the weather and that he planned to visit both teams at a later date. No date for those visits was announced. The game remained scheduled for Saturday as of Friday, though University of Alabama officials had changed some campus arrangements because of the storm threat. The university restricted tailgating and warned that weather could lead to further changes. The supplied information does not establish whether the game or those arrangements ultimately proceeded. Trump said his reason for missing the game was to avoid diverting first responders and law enforcement from storm preparations and assistance.