Trump scraps Jacksonville portion of Republican convention due to virus spike

The move is a striking turnaround for Trump, who moved the three-day convention to Jacksonville after North Carolina's governor raised public health concerns about having massive gatherings in Charlotte, as the Republicans had long planned. At a White House news conference on Thursday, the president said he took the decision owing to a spike in coronavirus cases in Florida.


PTI | Washington DC | Updated: 24-07-2020 15:27 IST | Created: 24-07-2020 15:27 IST
Trump scraps Jacksonville portion of Republican convention due to virus spike
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President Donald Trump has cancelled the mega Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Convention to be held next month due to the coronavirus "flare-up" in Florida, a major setback in his re-election bid. The move is a striking turnaround for Trump, who moved the three-day convention to Jacksonville after North Carolina's governor raised public health concerns about having massive gatherings in Charlotte, as the Republicans had long planned.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, the president said he took the decision owing to a spike in coronavirus cases in Florida. "The timing for this event is not right, it just not right with what has happened recently the flare up in Florida to have a big convention it's not the right time," he said.

Trump, who is trailing behind his Democratic Party rival Joe Biden in some of the recent opinion polls, said he took the decision to protect the people of his country. "I have to protect the American people; that is what I have always done. That is what I always will do, that is what I am about," he said after a meeting with his political team at the White House.

Florida has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the US. The state had 389,868 cases, the third-highest in the country behind California and New York, according to COVID Data Tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 5,632 people have died in Florida since the pandemic began.

Trump said the political team told him they can "make this (convention) work very easily" and there was "great enthusiasm" for it, but he made the decision considering the safety of the people. "I said there's nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe whether that's from the China virus or the radical-left mob that you see in Portland where I want to thank Homeland Security and others in law enforcement for doing a fantastic job over the last few days," Trump said.

Trump's last-minute decision to cancel the event follows a scramble by the Republican Party over the last few months to try and hold a conventional party gathering in spite of the raging pandemic that has already killed over 140,000 Americans. The delegates to the convention will still meet in Charlotte to hold small, formal business meetings as planned in August, but Trump's keynote Jacksonville speech will no longer take place, US media reports said.

Trump said the party was still deciding how to conduct some form of the August 24-27 event. "We'll have a very nice something. We'll figure it out. It'll be online in some form. Maybe it'll be something even a little bit different. We have time," he said.

The once in four-year convention of the Republican Party is held during the election year to nominate its presidential candidate. The convention was originally scheduled to be held in Charlottesville in North Carolina. Trump is seeking his re-election for his second consecutive four-year term.

The Democratic Convention in Wisconsin has already gone into an almost virtual mode. Former Vice President Biden is the nominee of the opposition Democratic Party. "Leading by example, President Trump has put the health and safety of the American people first with his decision on the Jacksonville convention," said Bill Stepien, Trump 2020 campaign manager.

"The President has built the most innovative political campaign in history and will provide exciting, informative, and enthusiastic programming so Republicans can celebrate the re-nomination of President Trump and Vice President Pence," he said. "We look forward to celebrating the historic achievements of the administration and exposing what Joe Biden is - the empty vessel, Trojan Horse candidate used by the extreme left to advance their radical agenda," Stepien said.

Meanwhile, a new Florida poll shows Democrat Biden significantly ahead of President Trump. The Quinnipiac University Poll released on Thursday showed the former vice president 13 percentage points ahead of Trump.

Biden has the support of 51 per cent of Florida voters, with 38 per cent choosing Trump. The Quinnipiac Poll is the latest in a series of surveys that show Biden ahead in a state Trump won in 2016 and is vital to his for re-election in the November 3 election.

Quinnipiac surveyed 924 Florida registered voters. Florida is the largest state that could go either way in the presidential election, awarding 29 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The state consistently produces close statewide elections, with key contests often decided by small margins, the newspaper reported..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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