Weeks after President Donald Trump said he would deliver his convention speech in Florida in response to North Carolina’s coronavirus restrictions, the host city of Jacksonville imposed a requirement to cover his face in public amid an alarming surge. of cases.
The city announced its new mask requirement Monday. Mayor Lenny Curry, a Republican who lobbied for the convention and rejected a mask requirement, was absent from the announcement, according to The New York Times.
Jacksonville obtained the Trump Republican National Convention speech after the president opposed North Carolina’s mask and social distancing requirements. While the commercial part of the convention will take place in Charlotte, the original host site, Trump is expected to accept the nomination at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
The speech was shaken after Trump extorted North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, because the state’s coronavirus restrictions would prevent the convention from filling the arena.
“Since the day I went down the escalator, I have never had an empty seat, and I find the biggest stadiums,” he told Cooper earlier this month, before appearing in front of a half-empty arena in Tulsa. “I don’t want to be sitting in a place that’s 50% empty.”
A Republican official told The Washington Post that Trump would only hold the convention in a city “with no social distancing or masks required.”
While it’s unclear how long the mask requirement will last, Florida has done little in response to the dizzying increase in cases in the past two weeks. The requirement was imposed after the number of cases in Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, increased to 384 new cases per day from 32 per day just two weeks ago. Florida has become one of the new epicenters of the virus in the country, along with Texas and Arizona.
The Republican National Committee said in a statement that it would comply “with local health regulations in force at the time.”
“The event is still two months away, and we are planning to offer health precautions, including but not limited to, temperature controls, available PPE, aggressive disinfection protocols, and available COVID-19 testing,” the statement said.
The convention, which is scheduled for August 24-27, has become a controversial topic in the city. Curry’s approval rating fell from a net positive job approval rating of +9 to a net rate of -4 in just one month, according to a poll that found 58% of Jacksonville voters opposed organizing republican convention.
A group of about 200 Florida doctors sent a letter to Curry last week urging him to postpone the convention, noting that up to 40,000 people are expected to attend.
“Allowing this number of people to descend on Jacksonville is undoubtedly disease-causing, predictably harmful, and medically disrespectful to the citizens of this city, let alone to the rest of the country,” the letter said. “There will be an increase in hospitalizations, long-term health problems and deaths. Most at risk are our most vulnerable populations: the poor, the elderly, and those with underlying conditions.”
Masks have become a political problem, leading Republicans who urged states to reopen their economies to encourage people to wear masks to prevent another shutdown. Trump has refused to use one, even in cities where they are mandatory.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a Senate speech Monday that “we shouldn’t have any stigma, none, about wearing masks when we get out of our houses and approach other people.”
But the Trump administration has sent mixed messages. Vice President Mike Pence on Monday urged people to wear masks before attending a 2,200-person rally in Texas, which featured a choir of 100 people singing without masks.
The White House has refused to encourage masks, deferring local officials Monday.
“I spoke to the president before I came here,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “It is his choice to wear a mask. It is anyone’s personal choice as to whether to wear a mask or not. He encourages people to make any decision that is best for their safety, but he told me he has no problem with masks and do what your local jurisdiction asks you to do. “
