(Washington) Donald Trump on Thursday canceled the “big” Republican convention scheduled for Jacksonville, Florida, to induct him as the party's presidential candidate on November 3, due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic in the southern United States.
Posted on 23 July 2020 to 17 h 58
France Media Agency
“We are not going to hold a large public convention as such, this is not the time”, he declared, considering that it was his duty as president to “protect Americans “.
“The timing for this event is not good, considering what happened recently – the outbreak (of infections) in Florida – it's not going, ”Donald Trump further justified.
The Republican convention was initially scheduled in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 23 to 24 August, but the Democratic governor of the state had wanted a reduced format to meet health recommendations.
Annoyed, the Republican president, who has long played down the severity of the pandemic, decided in early June to move most of the meeting to Jacksonville.
Recently, however, he did an about-face, and even admitted that the situation was going to get even worse. The cancellation of the agreement is part of this logic.
Certain events maintained in Charlotte out of respect for the signed contracts will still take place “and we will hold online gatherings,” said Donald Trump.
The Democrats for their part announced a month ago that their convention, scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 07 to 20 August, would be almost entirely virtual. Former Vice President Joe Biden will personally accept his nomination as the party's candidate.