Politics

Trump ‘forced’ to move Republican convention out of North Carolina

Washington DC, June 2 (efe-epa).- The president of the United States on Tuesday announced that he was seeking another state to host the 2020 Republican National Convention in August after North Carolina authorities expressed their concern over the large attendance expected amid the coronavirus epidemic.

“Because of @NC_Governor, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention,” Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday night.

The Republican Convention, the big event at which Trump’s party selects its candidate for the presidential elections to be held in November, was set to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina between Aug 24-27 and was scheduled before the epidemic broke out. It was expected to draw some 50,000 people to the city.

Last week, Trump warned of moving the convention if North Carolina authorities did not guarantee him that the event could be held without major changes, despite public health experts advising against gatherings due to the risk of spread of infection.

The president on Tuesday said that “Governor (Roy) Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised,” referring to Spectrum Center, which can accommodate some 19,000 people.

“Would have showcased beautiful North Carolina to the World, and brought in hundreds of millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State,” Trump added.

Republican leaders in Texas, Georgia and Florida have offered to host the convention which would formalize Trump’s candidacy for the Nov. 3 election where he is expected to face off with Barack Obama’s former vice president Joe Biden, virtual nominee of the Democrats.

The North Carolina governor on Tuesday said that he could not guarantee a “full convention” as requested by Trump along with Spectrum stadium and nearby restaurants and bars crowded, according to local news daily Charlotte Observer.

“They have demanded a full 19,000-person crowd at the inside arena in Charlotte. We’ve continued to say we want to talk with you about a scaled-down convention, but we cannot guarantee you that at the end of August, you can have a full arena,” Cooper said in a media briefing in Raleigh city.

Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel said in a tweet on Tuesday that “We have an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business.”

As well as the aforementioned states, leaders of several cities have expressed their interest in hosting the convention, including Las Vegas (Nevada), Nashville (Tennessee), Orlando and Jacksonville (Florida).

Despite the US having the highest number of COVID-19 patients with more than 1.83 million people infected and 106,000 deaths, Trump has pushed for resuming economic activities in an accelerated manner. EFE-EPA

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