Trump Says He’ll Accept Republican Nomination in North Carolina Despite Canceling RNC in Jacksonville

After canceling in-person events at the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville last week, President Donald Trump says he’ll still accept his party’s 2020 nomination with a speech in North Carolina, the original site of the RNC.

“All I know is I’ll be in North Carolina,” Trump said to WRAL, Raleigh’s NBC affiliate. “And that’s a very big deal because we have a lot of the delegates there, and that will be a nomination process. And that’s essentially where the nomination, where it’s formalized, and I’m really honored to do it in North Carolina. We won this state, we’ve had great relationships.”

The site of the RNC was originally moved away from Charlotte, North Carolina, because the state couldn’t fully guarantee the capacity due to Covid-19 restrictions. Republicans landed on Jacksonville, which later required an indoor mask-wearing mandate after cases surged in Florida.

Last Thursday, Trump announced that all in-person events in Jacksonville would be canceled, opting toward tele-rallies — a term his campaign trademarked last week.

“The timing is not right, just not right with what happened recently with a flare up in Florida,” Trump said on July 23. “…I have to protect the American people and that’s something I will always do and that’s what I’m about.”

While Trump hinted that some in-person events in North Carolina may go on last week, the president said his speech will be in a “different form,” not part of a “big crowded convention per-say, it’s just not the right time for that.”

While the site of his acceptance is unclear, Trump said he’ll make formal announcements about where he will make his nomination speech at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

Watch above, via WRAL.

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