Trump says GOP is pulling North Carolina convention

RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that he is seeking a new state to host this summer’s Republican National Convention after host North Carolina refused to guarantee the event could be held in Charlotte without restrictions because of ongoing concerns over the coronavirus.

Trump announced the news via tweet, complaining the state’s governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, and other officials “refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena” and were not “allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised.”

“Because of @NC_Governor, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention,” he wrote.

Several other states have volunteered to host the convention instead.

The announcement came after a Friday call in which Trump had spelled out his requirements for hosting the convention as planned in Charlotte. Trump told Cooper he wanted a traditional convention with a packed arena full of delegates — and with no face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

During the call, when Trump “insisted on a full convention arena with no face coverings and no social distancing the governor expressed concerns and suggested a scaled back event with fewer attendees,” Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner wrote in an email. “They agreed to continue talking about ways to have a safe convention in Charlotte.”

But Cooper made clear to Trump that those conditions would likely be impossible given the status of the epidemic in his state, and formalized that Tuesday in a letter to the Republican National Committee. Cooper wrote to RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel that “planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity.”

The letter came on the eve of a deadline from the GOP for assurances that Cooper would allow a full-scale event in August.

Later, Cooper told reporters it’s unlikely that virus trends will allow a full-capacity nominating convention for Trump to proceed at Charlotte’s NBA arena.

“We think it is unlikely that we would be to the point at the end of August to be able to have a jampacked 19,000-person convention in the Spectrum arena,” Cooper said. “So the likelihood of it being in Charlotte depends upon the RNC’s willingness to discuss with us a scaled-down convention, which we would like to do.”

That prompted the RNC to say they would begin visiting potential alternative sites to examine holding the convention in other locations — largely GOP-led states — that were offering to host the quadrennial gathering.

McDaniel, meanwhile, accused Cooper of “dragging his feet” on giving them guidance for proceeding with convention plans. She released a statement saying that while the party would like to hold its event in Charlotte, “we have an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states” that have reached out to express interest in hosting.

Republican governors of Tennessee, Florida and Georgia have said they would be interested in hosting if North Carolina falls through. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said GOP officials are coming to scout Nashville on Thursday, calling the city “the best place in America to have a convention.