RNC: Trump celebration to be held in another city, ‘official business’ may still be held in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Officials with the Republican National Committee say that although President Donald Trump will accept the party’s nomination during a celebration in another city, the “official business” of the 2020 convention could still take place in Charlotte.

“Due to the directive from the governor that our convention cannot go on as planned as required by our rules, the celebration of the president’s acceptance of the Republican nomination will be held in another city," RNC officials wrote in a statement Wednesday afternoon. "Should the governor allow more than 10 people in a room, we still hope to conduct the official business of the convention in Charlotte.”

The statement comes less than 24 hours after Trump said the RNC was being “forced to seek another state” to host the 2020 event.

Trump’s response, delivered Tuesday night on Twitter, comes after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper responded to the Republican National Committee earlier in the day, saying it was “very unlikely” public health concerns over COVID-19 would allow for the “full convention” the president has requested for the RNC in Charlotte.

“Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised,” President Trump wrote, in part, in a series of three tweets. “Because of @NC_Governor, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.”

Gov. Cooper tweeted in response to President Trump again Tuesday night, saying state officials had been committed to a safe convention in Charlotte in August.

“We have been committed to a safe RNC convention in North Carolina and it’s unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority,” Cooper tweeted.

The City of Charlotte later tweeted that they have not received official notification from the RNC regarding their intent for the convention.

“We have a contract in place with the RNC to host the convention and the City Attorney will be in contact with the attorneys for the RNC to understand their full intentions,” city officials said.

Earlier Tuesday, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the committee would be “visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days” about hosting the convention.

The RNC convention is scheduled to be held in Charlotte in late August. The Republican National Committee recently sent a letter to Cooper stating they expect a full convention, no matter the state of the coronavirus pandemic.

The RNC committee’s defined a full convention as “19,000 delegates, alternate delegates, staff, volunteers, elected officials and guest inside the Spectrum Center.” The RNC said they are also expecting hotels to be full and restaurants and bars to be at capacity.

On May 26, Trump gave Cooper one week to make a decision about allowing full attendance at the convention before considering other locations for the convention.

While N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen responded to the RNC’s request with a follow-up letter detailing questions health officials wanted answered about convention plans, Cooper’s letter came just one day before the president’s deadline.

“We had appreciated your earlier acknowledgements that a successful and safe convention would need to be scaled back to protect the health of participants as well as North Carolinians,” Cooper wrote in Tuesday’s letter. “Unfortunately, it appears that has now changed.”

Cooper wrote that he still wants a safe RNC convention in Charlotte that follows health guidelines set forth in the CDC’s guidance regarding mass gatherings.

“The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August,” Cooper wrote, “so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity.”

Cooper said N.C. officials are still waiting on answers to the questions posed by Cohen in her letter.

“As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely,” Cooper said. “Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.”

Read Cooper’s letter in its entirety below:

When giving Cooper the one-week deadline, President Trump pointed out that the RNC has “tremendous” economic development consequences on the state.

“We have to know that when the people come down, they’re going to have the doors open - now if the governor can’t tell us very soon, unfortunately we’ll have no choice,” President Trump said.

President Trump talked about how he loves North Carolina and how it is a very important place to him.

“I’d love to have it in North Carolina. that was why I chose it, Charlotte - but we’re going to see,” President Trump said.

President Trump said he would say he needs to know if the governor can guarantee full attendance within a week before looking elsewhere for a location.

“If he feels that he’s not going to do it, all he has to do is tell us and then we’ll have to pick another locations and I will tell you a lot of locations want it,” President Trump said. “But I picked North Carolina because I do love that state and it would have been a perfect place for it and it still would be - but he’s got to say that when thousands of people come to the arena that they’ll be able to get in. Does that make sense?”

The full response to the question can be found here around the 21:44 minute mark of the video.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper responded to Monday tweets from President Donald Trump threatening to pull the Republican National Convention (RNC) from Charlotte if the state cannot guarantee full attendance at the convention.

Gov. Cooper said state officials have already been in talks with the RNC about the kind of convention they would need to hold and the kinds of options needed. The Republican National Convention is set for August 24 through August 27 at the Spectrum Center. It was expected to bring nearly 50,000 people to the city.

“We’re talking about something that’s going to happen three months from now, and we don’t know what our situation is going to be regarding COVID-19 in North Carolina,” Gov. Cooper said.

Gov. Cooper mentioned conversations state health officials have been having with the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets and other large arena owners about precautions to take when considering holding large events in North Carolina in the coming months.

“Everyone wants to get back into action soon,” Gov. Cooper said. "But I think everybody knows that we have to take some steps to make sure that people are protected, because this virus is still going to be with us in August and we’re going to have to take steps to protect people.

Gov. Cooper says officials have asked the RNC to present their written proposals for plans for the convention. Cooper said officials have had discussions about the possibility of a limited convention among other options.

Cooper said NASCAR did a great job of presenting their plans and adhering to many safety guidelines, and he looks forward to having positive conversations with the RNC as well.

“We’d like to reach a resolution that everyone can be reasonable about that puts public healthy, safety, the science and the facts as the number one thing we’re trying to do here,” Gov. Cooper said.

“The RNC wants to hold a full in-person convention in Charlotte, but we need the governor to provide assurances that it can occur. We will need some answers sooner rather than later, or we will be forced to consider other options.”

At a press conference Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president wants to see the RNC go forward in North Carolina and sees “no reason not to” have the convention at this time.

Already, two other governors are offering up their states to host the Republican National Convention. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sent an open plea to Trump on Tuesday to consider his state as an alternate site for the quadrennial convention, which is set to gather more than 2,500 delegates and thousands more guests, press and security officials.

Kemp’s offer was followed by one from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who told reporters at a Miami news conference that he “would love” to have the GOP or even the Democratic convention, as either would bring millions of dollars to the state.

North and South Carolina leaders don’t want the Carolinas lose the thousands of jobs or the $200 million that will come to the state just because Florida and Georgia and other states are offering to host or because Cooper couldn’t make it work with the RNC.

“This wallet is neither democrat nor Republican. This represents green. It’s not red or blue is green. And that’s why we want this money to be spent in Charlotte, North Carolina,” said Representative Ralph Norman.

Norman says Carolinians would be loosing out on a missed opportunity for an economic boost, if the Governor didn’t urge for the RNC to remain in Charlotte.

“You tell that restaurant owner that people wont be coming to eat their food… you tell them," says Norman.

Norman is talking about people like Bisonte Pizza Co. owner, Jim DaPolito.

“Monday through Friday, that whole week, or even into that Saturday, that you’d be busy those five six days in a row like a game, you know, as opposed to eight Sundays a year," says DaPolito. "So that really I mean, that’s almost double your football crowd. And that’s if we can get football again this year.”

DaPolito says even if Charlotte hosted a scaled back version of the RNC…

“I’d be happy with it to be anything you know, it’s for the business end of it," says DaPolito. “You know, for the small businesses, any little extra would do and will help especially at this time.”

The Convention is set to start on August 24.

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