Washington – President Trump announced Thursday that he will cancel the Jacksonville, Florida portion of the Republican National Convention next month, citing the fury. coronavirus crisis.
Speaking from the podium in the White House meeting room, Trump said he will still deliver a speech and that delegates will formally nominate him in Charlotte, North Carolina, but did not announce where his speech will take place. Much of the convention had already moved from its original site in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville due to coronavirus restrictions in North Carolina.
But now, “it just isn’t the right time for that,” the president said of a large Republican meeting in Florida. Trump said he felt it was wrong for people to travel to a COVID hot spot for the convention. “We did not want to risk it,” he told reporters.
Coronavirus cases continue to rise in Florida, and the Sunshine State reported a record number of daily deaths on Thursday 173.
Trump said he told his team that despite the fact that “everything was fine,” he decided to disconnect: “It is time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of the Republican convention,” he recalled saying. The president said he expects more virtual events.
“I care deeply about the people of Florida and anywhere else frankly in this country and even the world. I would go into the state and I don’t want to do anything to upset them, they will do very well.” said the president.
Bill Stepien, the new president of the Trump campaign, said the president “leads by example.”
“The President has built the most innovative political campaign in history and will provide exciting, informative, and enthusiastic programming for Republicans to celebrate the reelection of President Trump and Vice President Pence,” said Stepien. “We look forward to celebrating the administration’s historic accomplishments and exposing what Joe Biden is: the empty bowl, the Trojan horse candidate used by the far left to advance his radical agenda.”
The Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee noted the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Florida and said the President and RNC “have shown great concern for the safety of all Floridians.”
Dean Black, chairman of the Duval County Republican Party, which covers Jacksonville, said, “Although this was not the result we expected, we know that President Trump made this decision with the knowledge that he was doing what was best for the people of Jacksonville. ”
The president, who has long expressed his hopes for a grand convention and the return of its rallies, offered a different message when he resurrected his coronavirus briefings on Tuesday: that the coronavirus crisis “will unfortunately likely get worse before it improves. “
Meanwhile, Senate and White House Republicans continue to forge the next coronavirus relief package. Republicans in the Senate and White House have been engaged in negotiations this week in a fifth legislative package and a final deal is nearing. But the Republican government and the Trump administration have yet to start talks with their fellow Democrats, who have criticized Republicans for waiting weeks to start crafting the next measure and rejected their proposals currently under discussion. Trump said Thursday that he told Republicans to stop pushing for a payroll tax, saying Democrats would never do so and that they need the Democrats’ votes.
Upcoming expiration of improved unemployment benefits is looming over lawmakers. Republicans fear the additional $ 600 for Americans receiving unemployment benefits will discourage return to work if the benefits are more than wages. But Democrats say the improved benefits are crucial as Americans who are out of work due to the coronavirus crisis face another month of being unable to pay their bills and rent.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Republicans in the White House and Senate reached a “fundamental agreement,” although it is unclear when the text of the aid package will be revealed. The proposal is expected to include another round of direct payments to Americans, as well as $ 105 billion for education, $ 70 billion of which would go to K-12 schools, $ 30 billion for colleges and universities, and $ 5 1 billion for states to use at their discretion.
On a lighter note, the president said he will launch the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in August. That announcement comes the same day that Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has not been invited to the podium for the president’s briefings so far this week, launches the first launch in the National Park in Washington, DC
.
