Donald Trump's hopes of delivering a "big surprise" at the Republican National Convention are officially rained out.
The real estate mogul had been excitedly promoting his scheduled contribution to this year's conservative confab, despite suggestions that his participation would simply amount to a bit where he'd fire an Obama impersonator.
Tropical Storm Isaac had other plans however, as the threat of heavy rains and extreme winds forced the GOP's planning committee to postpone the RNC, shifting Monday's events and canceling others. Trump's act, slated to take place on Monday, wasn't spared the chopping block. Some Republicans are thankful, the Washington Post reports, though Trump spokesman Michael Cohen maintained that Trump's show would have been quite the spectacle.
Trump was in Florida on Sunday to receive a "statesman of the year" award from the Sarasota GOP. At a reception dinner, he addressed the development and also continued on his birther tear.
"They gave me a big role and I was looking forward –- I was actually going to Tampa right after this, right after this dinner, but now I probably will be going back to New York," Trump said, according to Politico. "I may come back but I’ll probably be going to New York after the dinner."
Trump also spoke on another contribution he has provided to the political debate: His near-constant appeal to beliefs that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, and that his long-form birth certificate is a forgery. Pressed by reporters on an incident last week in which GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared to make a joke about the nagging conspiracy theory, Trump suggested it was no laughing matter.
"Let’s just say this there’s a huge group of people that are not believers in what [Obama] did, what he said and where he came from," Trump said, going on to explain that his birther crusade may continue. "We’ll see what happens. Well see what happens over the coming weeks and months."
Trump also encouraged Republicans to get nasty in the upcoming election against Obama.
"I don't think the Republicans should be or can be, they can't afford to be politically correct and nice," he said. "You have to fight fire with fire. And if they don't do it, they're not going to have a good result."