President Trump has canceled the Florida portion of the 2020 Republican National Convention.
“I told my team that it is time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of the Republican convention,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House.
Trump added that “the timing for this event is not the right one” as Florida’s COVID-19 cases skyrocket.
The four-year meeting, where the president had to officially accept his party’s new name, would take place the week of August 24-27 in the coastal city, in the northeast corner of Florida.
Instead, Trump promised Republicans that they would hold “telecasts” and other online events to cheer on the party loyalists ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. He would still formally address delegates and supporters before facing alleged 2020 Democrat flag bearer Joe Biden in the fall, he said.
Republican activities in Jacksonville were questioned as Florida struggled in recent weeks with its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, Jacksonville Republican Mayor Lenny Curry imposed a mask mandate on its residents when the virus spread across the state. Then this week, Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams said he wasn’t sure he had the money or the manpower to provide collusion security after Republican officials decided at the last minute to take away most of the Original host Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Republican National Committee announced in June that it would transplant the holidays that traditionally surround the coronation of a presidential candidate to Florida after a protracted public dispute with Democratic leaders in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper declined to guarantee that Trump could host a large-scale convention when he imposed virus-related crowd restrictions on most of the state.
Trump said Thursday that the commercial aspect of the event would continue as planned in Charlotte.
