The Republican Party, which moved its national convention from North Carolina to Florida due to coronavirus concerns, will no longer hold an in-person event in Jacksonville, announced President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Trump made the announcement during a press conference at the White House, and indicated that although the plans for the new convention were going well, he decided against hosting it in-person as planned.
“I looked at my team and I said, ‘the timing for this event is not right.’ It’s just not right with what’s happened recently, the flair-up in Florida, to have a big convention, it’s not the right time,” he said. “For me, I have to protect the American people. That’s what I’ve always done, that’s what I always will do.”
Although the much-anticipated festivities in Jacksonville will not occur as planned, Trump revealed the non-Jacksonville component of the convention will still happen for select delegates. Furthermore, some of the events that were planned for Jacksonville will be replaced with online-friendly events, such as tele-rallies.
“I’ll still do a convention speech, in a different form, but we won’t do a big crowded convention per se. It’s just not the right time for that,” said Trump. “I care deeply about the people of Florida, and everywhere else, frankly, in this country, and even in the world, who would be coming into this state, and I don’t want to do anything to upset it.”
“They’ll be doing very well, very shortly,” said Trump of Florida’s coronavirus caseload.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the convention underwent a venue change back in June after Governor Roy Cooper (D) informed the GOP in a letter that he could not guarantee the convention could be hosted in-full due to coronavirus concerns.
“With the nation, the state of North Carolina and the City of Charlotte still under states of emergency, it’s important to conduct the RNC convention accordingly,” wrote Cooper in the letter. “As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely.”
But as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida increased, Republican officials were reportedly looking for alternatives to the in-person convention, such as an outside event at a minor league baseball stadium or pro-football stadium.
