Trump, GOP weigh new convention site after North Carolina spat
RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump said he is seeking a new state to host this summer’s Republican National Convention after North Carolina refused to guarantee the event could be held in Charlotte without public health restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump announced the news via tweet Tuesday night, complaining that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and other state officials 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.
Some convention business probably will take place in Charlotte, due to existing obligations. But Trump will not accept renomination in the city, according to one RNC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump and the RNC had demanded that the August convention be allowed to move forward with a full crowd and that participants not have to wear face coverings. Those demands raised concerns in a state that is facing an upward trend in its coronavirus cases, with more than 30,000 cumulative cases and nearly 1,000 deaths as of Wednesday.
“We have been committed to a safe RNC convention in North Carolina and it’s unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe,” Cooper tweeted. “Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority.”
A traditional GOP convention brings together roughly 2,500 delegates, the same number of alternate delegates and many times more guests, journalists and security personnel.
Trump’s announcement came after a call with Cooper last week in which the president pressed his demands. 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.
But Cooper made clear to Trump that those conditions would likely be impossible to accommodate. Cooper formalized that Tuesday in a letter to the RNC, before the Wednesday deadline set by the GOP for assurances from Cooper that he would allow a fullscale event in August.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said GOP officials were coming Thursday to scout Nashville. Lee called the city “the best place in America to have a convention.”