Trump Threatens To Move Republican National Convention Out Of North Carolina Unless Governor Lifts Social Distancing Restrictions

On Memorial Day, President Donald Trump lashed out against North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) threatening to move the 2020 Republican National Convention, which is expected to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, to another state.

The convention is scheduled to start on August,23, and Cooper has voiced concerns about having a full arena during a global pandemic.

Trump claimed that the governor was “unable to guarantee” at the moment that he would allow the arena to be completely filled.

Trump tweeted his reservations. “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,” he prefaced his comments, then adding that the Democratic governor was “still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed 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.”

Trump has recently been criticized for underestimating the risks associated with the pandemic. Back in March, he dismissed the global outbreak, calling it a “hoax,”, and he has recently been seen without a mask in public multiple times. During his press briefings, for instance, he never wore one.

In an interview this week, Cooper said that he would only let science lead his decisions. “This is not political. This is not emotional. This is based on health experts, data and science and that’s it for everybody to see,” Cooper said. “No one is being favored or disfavored over the other.”

Trump called for a guarantee that the governor will halt social distancing measures during the convention.

“Plans are being made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August,” Trump said in a tweet. “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 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.”