by President Donald Trump announced last Monday that the venue for the Republican National Convention as again changed, and would be returning to North Carolina, its original destination.
Long before the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc around the world the Republican convention was scheduled to take place in Charlotte, NC. Unfortunately, as the deadly virus began to infect thousands in the United States, including in North Carolina, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper told the Republicans that in order to hold the convention in his state, they would need to limit severely the number of people in attendance, practice social distancing, and follow all the announced CDC guidelines in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
The President, not wanting to adhere to Governor Cooper’s restrictions, wrote on Twitter on June 2 that he was going to move the main activities of the convention to another location outside of North Carolina.
On June 11 the Republican National Committee chose Jacksonville, Florida to host the convention, with President Trump delivering the keynote acceptance speech of his nomination as part of an event scheduled to take place over several evenings.
But once again the coronavirus thwarted the President’s plans. Due to a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases recently in Florida, the state’s resources became too strained to add a large event like the Republican convention to its list of responsibilities.
Only a week ago, on July 21, campaign officials repeatedly told the public that the convention could be conducted in a safe and responsible manner in Jacksonville. Just two days later, on July 23, Trump cancelled Jacksonville as the location for his acceptance speech. As of July 28, it appears the convention, scheduled to begin in less than a month, on August 24-27, will be held somewhere in North Carolina. It is still unclear even if Trump will be delivering the keynote speech.
