Trump cancels Republican convention in Florida after coronavirus spike
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[July 24, 2020]
By Steve Holland and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump on Thursday said he would no longer hold part of the Republican
Party's nominating convention in Florida in August because of a spike in
coronavirus cases in the state.
Trump already moved part of the convention from North Carolina to
Florida because of restrictions on gathering due to the virus, but the
surge in cases had led some Republicans to pull out of attending the
Florida event.
Trump said it was not the right time to hold a "crowded convention."
"The timing for this event is not right," Trump said in a White House
press briefing. "It's just not right with what’s happened recently, the
flare up in Florida. To have a big convention it’s not the right time."
He said he ordered his aides to cancel the event "to protect the
American people."
Republican delegates would still be meeting in Charlotte, North
Carolina, the original venue for the convention, on the week beginning
Aug. 24, Trump said.
He added he would still give a convention speech but "in a different
form" and said there were plans for so-called "telerallies" during the
week.
Trump, who is expected to take on Democratic candidate Joe Biden in a
Nov. 3 election, had moved the event from Charlotte to Jacksonville,
Florida, after North Carolina's governor refused to guarantee Trump
could hold a large event in the state.
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President Donald Trump takes questions during a coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) news briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S.,
July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Trump said he had already informed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of
the decision, which comes as the United States grapples with large
numbers of new COVID-19 cases outside of the Northeast, the region
hit hardest in the early months of the outbreak.
Florida is now among the states with the highest number of new
coronavirus cases and has seen more nearly 390,000 cases of the
virus and more than 5,600 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
As new cases surged in the state in recent weeks, some Republican
lawmakers and party delegates said they would avoid traveling to
Florida for the event.
Don Huizenga, a Republican delegate from Minnesota, was excited
about going just two weeks ago, but changed his mind after seeing
the growing coronavirus numbers in Florida.
“I really wanted to go, but with the coronavirus surge, it just
doesn’t make sense. It has lots of people rattled,” Huizenga said
earlier this week.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Simon Lewis; additional reporting by
Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker)
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