Donald Trump has said he will be “forced to find… another Republican National Convention site” if North Carolina’s governor doesn’t give in to his demands for the convention. In tweets back in May, Trump said he needed a “guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena.” Today, in a move that is sure to infuriate the president, Governor Roy Cooper made it clear that an arena full of people won’t be possible. The Democratic governor wrote a letter to the RNC saying:
“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. We are happy to continue talking with you about what a scaled down convention would look like and we still await your proposed plan for that.”
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel responded on Twitter saying they will begin looking into options for the late August convention.
Charlotte was the only city to submit a bid for the convention back in 2018, but recently Vice President Mike Pence said the convention could move to a state with a GOP governor such as Florida, Texas, or Georgia.