President Donald Trump Will Move the 2020 Republican Convention Out of North Carolina

President Donald Trump confirmed that he will move the 2020 Republican Convention away from Charlotte, North Carolina in a series of tweets Tuesday night. The state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, had refused to allow the Republican Party to conduct the event at full capacity, citing supposedly necessary coronavirus social distancing restrictions.

The event was slated to be held in late August, well after the apex of the national coronavirus epidemic. Cooper still refused to allow the Republican Party to proceed with its plans to hold a full-sized major party political convention.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985989471002626

The loss of the Republican convention is set to cost North Carolina millions of dollars in revenue for the state’s economy. Major party conventions are regularly sought by governors and mayors, but it appears that Cooper’s desire to restrict the GOP convention overrode his desire for the benefits of the event.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985990465064962

The President had earlier been threatening to move the convention if North Carolina failed to give the Republican Party the green light to proceed in organizing for its convention as planned.

Sources indicate that GOP officials are already scouting out potential alternative locations for the party’s convention. Early reports suggest that either Arizona or Florida could be selected as possible replacement locations for the event, with both states set to be competitive electoral battlegrounds in the fall presidential election.

Arizona Republican Debbie Lesko called for the RNC to move the convention to her Glendale-area district, and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has suggested that the state would be willing to welcome the President and Republicans across the country for the crucial political event.