WASHINGTON — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley will not attend the Republican National Convention for the first time in his 40-year Senate career due to concerns about the coronavirus.
“I’m not going to go, and I’m not going to go because of the virus situation,” he said on a conference call Monday with Iowa reporters.
Grassley, 86, is one of two of the Senate’s most senior Republicans skipping the convention in Jacksonville, Florida, where President Donald Trump will be nominated for a second term.
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, 80, also is staying away from the gathering as the coronavirus pandemic spikes in Florida. The virus takes a heavy toll on older people.
Alexander, who is retiring after this year, was more subtle about his reasons.
In a statement released by his office Tuesday, he acknowledged that choices must be made and that fewer people gathered for the event is desirable. He did not mention Trump, the pandemic or the fact that health experts say the virus is more transmissible among people in close proximity for prolonged periods.
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“Sen. Alexander is an honorary chair of the Tennessee Trump campaign, but he will not be attending the convention because he believes the delegate spots should be reserved for those who have not had that privilege before as he has had,” the statement read.
A few other Republicans, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, have also said they’re not attending. Romney, 73, has already said he won’t vote for Trump.
Trump said Tuesday he’s “flexible” on the size of the convention.
Asked in an interview whether he’d want to limit the gathering if the state’s coronavirus cases continue to rise, Trump replied that the decision “really depends on the timing.”
“We’re always looking at different things,” Trump said during an interview on Gray Television’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”
“When we signed a few weeks ago, it looked good,” the president continued. “And now, all of a sudden, it’s spiking up a little bit. And that’s going to go down. It really depends on the timing. Look, we’re very flexible.”
There is increasing concern even among Trump allies about the spread of the disease and worrying spikes in about a dozen states. The White House is trying to tamp down the nationwide concern despite more than 2.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 130,000 deaths.
The announcements by Grassley, who is third in line to the presidency as the Senate’s president pro tempore, and Alexander, the chairman of the health committee, suggest the worry runs well into the ranks of Trump’s allies.
Florida is one of the nation’s hardest-hit states, and hospitals are warning they’re in danger of being overwhelmed. Florida’s COVID-19 positive test rate is 18.7%, making it second only to Arizona among states where coronavirus infections are surging. According to public health experts, a rate of 10% or more indicates the virus is spreading in communities.
For Grassley, skipping the presidential nominating convention will be a first in his 40-year Senate career.
“If you want to have a convention, and I think we should have a convention, I think you should do whatever you can to make it as safe as possible, so that would be with face masks and social distancing,” Grassley said.
The convention is now scheduled to begin Aug. 24. Jacksonville officials began requiring face masks in public a week ago.
Grassley said he plans to continue his tour of all of Iowa’s counties, visiting 29 counties during the current two-week break. He and his staff will wear masks, but he doesn’t plan on requiring it for Iowans who come to see him.
“There’s no way a United States senator can force anybody in Iowa to wear a mask,” he said. “It’s going to be up to the individuals and I would say that there’s generally a rule that if you’re 6 feet apart, you don’t have to wear a mask, but I think doing both makes common sense and I’m going to encourage people to do both.”