■ Trump cancels his planned Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus,
President Trump won’t be coming to Jacksonville after all to make his reelection acceptance speech.
In a surprise move, Trump announced Thursday he was canceling the portions of next month’s Republican National Convention scheduled to take place in the northeast Florida city.
“I looked at my team and said the timing for this event is not right,” Trump said, citing what he called a “flare-up” of the virus in the state. “To have a big convention is not the right time. It’s really something that for me I have to protect the American people.”
Trump had moved his nomination speech and other prominent events to Jacksonville after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper insisted on mandating masks and other strict social distancing guidelines for the official convention site in Charlotte.
But now, weeks into a renewed surge in coronavirus cases in Florida — and on the same day that the state reported its highest number of deaths at 173 — Trump told reporters at his daily briefing in Washington that the Jacksonville events once set for Aug. 23-27 are off.
He added that he had informed Gov. Ron DeSantis of his decision earlier. A DeSantis spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
The decision comes after Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams and Mayor Lenny Curry, both Republicans, warned that safety plans for such a large event were insufficient with a month to go.
In a statement, Williams and Curry said, “We appreciate President Donald Trump considering our public health and safety concerns in making this incredibly difficult decision.‘’
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed 62% of Florida voters said they thought it would be unsafe to hold the convention in Jacksonville, compared to just 34% who did.
“I’m surprised that they canceled the event, because Trump just seemed so adamant that they were going to hold it in some form or another,” said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.
“But it does appear that Trump has come to the realization that, yeah, we are in a severe pandemic, and that COVID-19 cases are exploding in Florida and in many other states, and deaths are rising,” Jewett said. “He apparently has come to that realization, which a lot of other people had come to a while back.”
Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said he was caught somewhat off guard by the announcement, as he was making calls and arrangements earlier in the day for the Jacksonville event.
“We can’t have a successful event without being able to ensure the safety of the participants and those who are going to be working in and around the event,” Gruters said. “I think it was a selfless act.”
Orange County GOP chair Charles Hart added that Trump “cares about our safety and wellbeing before the pomp and circumstance of a national convention.”
In a statement, Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo said she was “glad Donald Trump took his head out of the sand long enough to realize what a predictable, preventable disaster he was about to inflict on the city of Jacksonville. His ego-driven political stunt has wasted precious time and resources during a pandemic, and Floridians will remember his reckless leadership in November.”
The decision means both major parties will be holding mostly virtual conventions, with only the official legal business to take place in Charlotte for Republicans and Milwaukee for Democrats.
A small subset of GOP delegates will still gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, to formally renominate Trump on Aug. 24. Trump said he would deliver an acceptance speech in an alternate form.