Republicans Reportedly ‘Settled’ on Hosting RNC in Jacksonville After Move Away From Charlotte

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Republicans have tentatively picked Jacksonville to host their in-person Republican National Convention in August, according to the Washington Post. The move comes as Democrats weigh skipping a large-scale convention to host the event virtually.

The RNC is eyeing Jacksonville because Florida would allow for massive crowds during the coronavirus pandemic, under Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ (R-FL) reopening plan. Still, some low-profile meetings connected to the RNC are expected to take place in Charlotte, the convention’s original host.

Trump began threatening to move the convention away from North Carolina because the state couldn’t fully guarantee the capacity — in 2016, 50,000 people attended the event. Trump also called out Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) on Twitter for not allowing the convention to happen at its normal scale.

…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. Plans are being….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

That day, the New York Times reported that the RNC may move to Florida, but Trump initially decried it as “fake news” until he doubled down on the party’s need to move the convention last week.

Jacksonville is still facing restrictions due to Covid-19 with some businesses only operating at 50 percent capacity. Republicans have also considered Orlando, Nashville, Dallas, and Savannah, Georgia as other destinations.