Trump Threatens to Pull RNC Convention from North Carolina over Dem Gov's Lockdown

On Monday morning, President Trump took to Twitter to express frustration over the continued lockdown orders in North Carolina. The Republican National Convention has scheduled the nominating convention for August in Charlotte, but Governor Roy Cooper (D) has yet to confirm that he will lift his CCP coronavirus pandemic lockdown orders in time for planning to proceed. In a series of tweets, President Trump threatened to pull the convention out of Charlotte.

I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

…full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space. Plans are being….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

…made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

…to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site. This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

Nominating conventions are no small things to pull off. They require a space as large as an NBA or NHL arena to accommodate upwards of 15-20,000 delegates, swarms of media, and all the security required to protect the sitting president. This is a MASSIVE undertaking, which has been in the works since shortly after the 2016 convention in Cleveland ended.

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President Trump has a good point here. If Governor Cooper can’t accommodate the needs of the convention, the RNC will have no choice but to find a more suitable location.

Florida in August doesn’t sound particularly appealing. Then again, it wasn’t THAT bad in Tampa in 2012, although the humidity was killer. There may not be a better alternative though. Swing state, open for business, willing to roll out the red carpet, lots of large professional sports arenas and hotel rooms. Just speculating here, but other alternatives might include Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Denver, or even Texas.

Both parties like to schedule their conventions in swing states to show off their best to swayable voters, but Texas and Florida might be the only states ready right now to accommodate such a large change of venue at the last moment. The animus held by Democratic governors toward President Trump will make blue states off-limits. The RNC has also considered some sort of virtual convention, but the logistics on that seem to lie somewhere between impossible and hellish.

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Hopefully Governor Cooper realizes the no-win situation and helps carry out the convention as planned. North Carolina voters would not likely regard him favorably for continued obstinance over his lockdown orders. Playing obstructionists with a national election would be a very bad look.