WASHINGTON – President Trump confirmed to the Post on Thursday that he intends to give his speech to the Republican National Convention off the White House lawn, and opposed critics who said the location was unsuitable.
During an exclusive Oval Office interview, the president said he would visit the battlefield in Gettysburg at a “later date” and outlined his vision for a social-distant speech to supporters at the executive mansion in Washington, DC later this month.
‘I’ll probably give my speech in the White House, because it’s a great place. It’s a place that makes me feel good, the country feels good, “Trump told the Post, saying it would also be easier for law enforcement and the secret service.
“Maybe we should do it outside on one of the lawns, we have different lawns, so we could have it outside in terms of the China virus,” he continued, referring to social distancing guidelines in the midst of the coronavirus. pandemic.
‘We could have a whole group of people. It is very large, a very large lawn. We could have a large group of people, ‘he said when asked if he would formally accept the Republican nomination for president with many supporters.
The president was forced last month to scrap his plans for a riotous RNC celebration in Jacksonville, Florida, when the Sunshine State fought a tsunami of COVID-19 infections.
Team Trump ran a number of locations, including Gettysburg’s Great Battlefield in Pennsylvania as the White House’s East Wing.
The president’s idea of delivering his conventional speech from the executive residence roiled his critics, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said it was wrong.
“Whether it’s legally wrong or ethical out of the question, it does not even have to be something that was expressed,” Pelosi told Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC.
The Hatch Act prohibits government employees from engaging in partisan political activities when they are on duty, in uniform, or on federal property. It does not apply to the president as vice president.
The president told The Post that the White House would be a “huge cost savings” because he already lives there and said he did not like the idea of having an address on the battlefield in Pennsylvania in the middle of the summer. to deliver.
“Gettysburg is special. I will do something in Gettysburg, it could be something else, not for the convention, ”he said.
“We’re going to do something great in Gettysburg, but if it’s getting a little cooler, because now it’s, you know, it’s August 27th, so that’s pretty hot out there,” he continued.
“We’ll do something, I love Pennsylvania and I love Gettysburg, so we’ll do something later in Gettysburg,” he said.
The Republican convention will run from August 24-27, while Democrats will hold its convention from August 17-20.
Democrats have also moved their convention online and nominee Joe Biden will deliver his acceptance speech from his home state of Delaware.
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