Trump cancels Jacksonville portion of Republican convention planned for August due to COVID-19

During his briefing on COVID-19 response, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is canceling the Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Convention that had been planned next month because of the coronavirus pandemic, a major setback in his effort to energize his struggling bid for reelection.       

“The timing for this event is not right,” Trump told reporters at the White House during his latest briefing on the virus. “There’s nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe.” 

Trump said that he would deliver remarks to formally accept his party’s nomination for president but offered no detail on where or when that will happen. The abrupt decision was not only a significant blow to his campaign but also raised questions about the president’s narrative that the country is ready to reopen for business.  

Trump said convention delegates will still gather in North Carolina, where the official business of the convention was set to take place, and formally nominate him for reelection. Trump said he would announce additional plans in coming days.

“I’ll still do a convention speech in a different form, but we won’t do a big, crowded convention,” Trump said. “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 the state. And I don’t want to do anything to upset it.”

The explosion of coronavirus cases in Florida – the state has reported sharp increases in COVID-19 deaths – and the later-than-usual selection of Jacksonville had cast doubt on the party’s ability to convene the major event there to rally supporters. USA TODAY reported this month that convention organizers were looking to limit the event.

More: Republicans fear coronavirus will force scaling back Trump’s Florida convention

Republican officials announced last month that Trump would move the highest-profile speeches of the Republican National Convention, including his own, to Jacksonville from Charlotte after North Carolina’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, imposed a shelter-in-place order that could have limited the made-for-television event. 

In a sign of disorder as Republicans scrambled to organize the Florida event, the Jacksonville sheriff, a Republican, raised concerns this week about a lack of funds for a four-day event, which was expected to bring thousands of people to the city. 

More: ‘We can’t support this’ Jacksonville sheriff says of convention concerns

“There can be nothing like our last convention, unfortunately,” Trump said. “It’s a different world, and it will be for a little while.”

President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the press at the White House on July 22, 2020.

 (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP via Getty Images)

Trump addressed reporters for the third time in as many days after announcing he would restart daily briefings on the virus that were suspended in April. Trump has used the high-profile sessions to tout efforts to spur vaccine production, encourage the wearing of face masks and warn that the pandemic is getting worse.

Public health officials reported Thursday that 4 million people in the U.S. had been infected with the virus and experts believe the number of cases is actually much higher. Meanwhile, almost 150,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus.

More: U.S. hits 4 million cases of COVID-19: A look at the milestones and setbacks

Minutes before Trump walked into the briefing room, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his colleagues that Senate Republicans have reached an agreement “in principle” with the administration on another round of virus-related economic stimulus. McConnell said he expected leaders would present details early next week. 

Lawmakers have been locked in negotiations for weeks over another round of economic aid. McConnell’s announcement was incremental – the major political struggle will be fought between Senate Republicans and House Democrats – getting Republicans on the same page as the White House has been viewed as a critical first step. 

On Wednesday, Trump blamed a dramatic uptick in U.S. coronavirus cases on young people who attended nationwide protests over police brutality, summer holidays, a “substantial increase in travel” and migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, even though his own advisers have also attributed the surge to some states’ early reopenings.

Contributing: Khrysgiana Pineda, Joey Garrison. 

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