Trump GOP convention in Jacksonville gets scaled back amid coronavirus spike
Chair: About 2,500 delegates can attend opening three nights
Florida Republicans are “moving forward” with plans to attend the national GOP convention in Jacksonville next month, despite news that attendance will be sharply restricted for most of the event because of spiking coronavirus numbers.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel said in a letter to members that only about 2,500 regular delegates to the convention would be permitted to attend the opening three nights of the convention. Delegates, guests and alternate delegates will be allowed on the final night, Aug. 27, when President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech.
“We had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed,” McDaniel wrote. “However,
adjustments must be made to comply with state and local health guidelines.”
The decision comes as Florida’s reported coronavirus cases have soared. Jacksonville has instituted a mask mandate and the state is limiting gatherings to 50% of a venue’s capacity.
On Thursday, Florida reported 13,965 new coronavirus cases and a record 156 new deaths. In all, there have been 315,775 cases and 4,677 deaths.
Joe Gruters, Republican Party of Florida chairman, lobbied for Trump to move the convention to Jacksonville from Charlotte when the president got frustrated at the restrictions imposed there. In a text message to the Orlando Sentinel, Gruters said he’s “moving forward” under the new rules and still plans on attending.
The restrictions also don’t faze state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, an alternate delegate from Lake County for the RNC. He has been a vocal critic of mask mandates and shutdown orders by local governments. He’s suing several cities and counties throughout the state, including Jacksonville, over the orders and still plans to go to Jacksonville with his wife, Francheska, who is an RNC delegate.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything, even if they require a bunch of silly stuff,” Sabatini said.
Sabatini, a lawyer, has represented business owners forced to shut down by local and statewide mandates. But he said he’s fine with private venues imposing mask or social distancing requirements, as long as it isn’t mandated by the government.
He thinks Trump will still be able to put on the kind of show he wanted even with the restrictions.
“Conditions could really change in 40 days,” Sabatini said. “People could say, ‘you know what? We’re ready to open up more and have larger crowds.’ But either way I think he’ll have a large crowd. If you have to have a large crowd, just spread it out. I think people are OK with that.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump aides and allies have increasingly questioned whether the event is worth the trouble, and some advocate scrapping it. Conventions are meant to lay out a candidate’s vision for the coming four years, not spark months of intrigue over the health and safety of attendees, they have argued.
Thursday’s announcement was expected to reduce the number of attendees who make the trip to Jacksonville, in most cases spending thousands of dollars of their own money to attend a convention that will lack many of the traditional festivities. Already some had been having second thoughts about going, given that some states have imposed 14-day quarantine orders on people returning from virus hot spots such as Florida.
“People coming from out of state, my guess is the guest list will be very small,” Gruters told the Associated Press.
The RNC was working to determine a programming lineup for the event. McDaniel said the convention was planning to use indoor and outdoor spaces. GOP officials said the marquee evening program, including Trump’s speech, was expected to take place outdoors to accommodate the largest crowd possible.
Clustered near an indoor 15,000-capacity arena in downtown Jacksonville are a 5,550-capacity music amphitheater, a minor league baseball stadium and the Jacksonville Jaguars football stadium.
The GOP will be providing onsite temperature checks and facecoverings and will have COVID-19 testing available for attendees.
“We can gather and put on a top-notch event that celebrates the incredible accomplishments of President Trump’s administration and his re-nomination for a second term — while also doing so in a safe and responsible manner,” McDaniel wrote.
The formal business of the renominating Trump still will take place in Charlotte, but with a far smaller group of delegates casting proxy votes.