Trump Pulls RNC Out Of NC Citing COVID-19 Restrictions

CHARLOTTE, NC — After more than a week of publicly pressuring North Carolina's Democrat governor to wholesale promise to drop any and all possible coronavirus restrictions, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that the Republican National Convention will not be held in Charlotte in August as planned.

The announcement regarding the cancellation of the event 22 months in the making was made in a series of tweets.

"Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte," Trump said. "Now, [Gov.] Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena — spend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and then tell them they will not be able to gain entry," he said.

Late last month, Trump threatened to pull the Republican National Convention, scheduled for late August, if the state couldn't guarantee "full attendance" at the event. He later doubled down on the threat, saying Cooper had a week to make assurances.

North Carolina is currently under a "Phase 2" executive order, which bans mass gatherings for groups of 25 or more outdoors and 10 or more indoors. That executive order is set to be in place through at least June 26.

The state continues to see an increase in the number of laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19, with an acceleration in the past week, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said Tuesday afternoon in a news conference. Hospitalizations for coronavirus-related illnesses are also increasing, she said.

As of Tuesday, North Carolina had 29,889 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 921 deaths.

"We have been committed to a safe RNC convention in North Carolina and it's unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe," Cooper said in a response to Trump late Tuesday evening. "Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority."

The four-day political convention is projected to be a financial windfall for its host city, bringing between $100 million and $300 million in economic revenue to the Charlotte metro region, according to the Charlotte 2020 host committee.

Earlier Tuesday, GOP officials indicated they intended to tour potential alternate convention sites in Nashville this week, Politico reported. Other possible locations include Las Vegas, Orlando or Jacksonville in Florida, as well as Georgia, it reported.

The news followed a demand made by RNC officials made over the weekend that the event slated to kick off Aug. 24 at the Spectrum Center be a "full convention" with more than 19,000 attendees.

In a letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Cooper indicated that state and RNC officials had been in discussions about a scaled back event "to protect the heath of participants," as well as state residents. "Unfortunately, it appears that has now changed," he said.

"The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity," Cooper said.

"As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely," Cooper said. "Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek."

Tuesday afternoon, McDaniel pushed back, saying, Cooper was "dragging his feet" in providing guidance. "We hope to still conduct the business of our convention in Charlotte, but 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 of Tuesday afternoon, Cooper said he remained hopeful the two parties could come to an agreement about a scaled-down event.

"I'm concerned about anywhere in our country where you would have that many people in one place," he said.

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