Donald Trump Announces Cancellation Of In-Person Jacksonville GOP Convention Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday afternoon that the in-person Republican convention event slated to take place next month in Florida has been canceled. The gathering had been hyped by the GOP since it was scheduled to take place in the area a matter of weeks ago. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he has now determined that it is not the right time to proceed.

According to NBC News, Trump revealed the decision during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

“I told my team it’s time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida, component of the GOP Convention. We will be starting in North Carolina for the Monday, as has always been planned, we were never taking that off,” he detailed.

Ultimately, Trump explained, he felt that the priority at this time was to protect the American people rather than hold the large function as had originally been planned. The president said that he had informed Gov. Ron DeSantis of his decision.

All of this had originally been slated to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. About six weeks ago, that plan changed. As a result of coronavirus concerns in North Carolina, the nominating portion was moved to Jacksonville.

However, COVID-19 cases have been escalating in the area over the past few weeks, raising concerns for holding the large in-person gathering there. Trump and his team initially resisted making any changes, but that clearly changed this week.

NPR noted that the Republican Party had been scrambling for the past few months to put together a traditional convention for Trump. The multi-day event is set to begin with the delegates in Charlotte on Monday, August 24. This is when Trump will be formally nominated by the party.

Trump plans to still give a speech accepting the nomination. However, details still need to be worked out regarding how he will do this now.

“They said, ‘Sir, we can make this work very easily’… I said there’s nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe, whether it’s from the China virus or the radical left mob,” the president declared during his press conference announcing the change.

Earlier in the week, Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams had said that his group would not be able to meet the security needs for the function. He explained that the combination of too little funding and poor planning by organizers meant that it would be impossible to execute the event in a safe manner. Trump did not make reference to this during his announcement.

The cancellation of the in-person Florida gathering also comes after a number of party leaders and GOP officials had stated that they would not be attending. They noted this was due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Additional details will likely emerge soon to break down how Trump plans to move forward in the wake of the Jacksonville cancellation.