President Donald Trump said today that due to safety concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus, he is canceling the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville in August. The number of cases in the country is now over 4 million, and 144,000 deaths.
“The timing for this event is not right, it’s just not right with what’s happened recently,” he said at a White House press conference, adding that the convention would have to be done online so that the nomination can proceed according to party rules.
“I told my team it’s time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida, component of the GOP convention,” he said. “We’re going to do some other things with tele-rallies and online the week that we’re discussing … 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.”
The limited gathering of the executive committee will still take place in Charlotte the third week of August.
