President Donald Trump is taking the Republican National Convention down to Jacksonville, Fla., according to The Washington Post.
Three insider Republicans said that the celebration will go down in August, in a state where the weather is a little warmer than the previous location.
The president had been scheduled to host the GOP festivities in Charlotte, North Carolina before a disagreement with the state’s Democratic governor led to Trump relocating the event.
The spat between them enflamed when Gov. Roy Cooper announced the convention could not take place at full capacity amid the ongoing Wuhan virus pandemic.
He’s handling the opening of his state conservatively and slowly, as most liberal governors have. And like his fellow Democratic governors, Cooper has faced criticism for decisions like shutting down churches — but not protests — during the global pandemic.
Cooper has long struggled with just how to open the state, let alone allow a massive convention that is expected to host up to 20,000 people.
So Trump found someplace else.
“I don’t want to be sitting in a place that’s 50 percent empty,” Trump told Gov. Cooper. “We can’t do social distancing.”
The President had been eyeing a location completely without limitations, although the details are still up in the air. Officials are examining whether or not there are enough hotel rooms available for a massive crowd size.
But Dean Black, a Florida county chairman, insists that there’s no better choice for the big event to take place.
“Mayor Curry has been actively and energetically pursuing this convention, and the Republican Party of Duval County has been actively promoting Jacksonville as the single best city in America to host a convention,” said Dean Black, the Duval County Republican chairman.
The Horn editorial team