TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Trump scraps Republican convention in Florida due to coronavirus

News Desk (Agence France-Presse)
Washington, United States
Fri, July 24, 2020

Share This Article

Change Size

Trump scraps Republican convention in Florida due to coronavirus US President Donald Trump speaks during an event about regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2020 in Washington, DC.Trump announced Thursday that he was scrapping next month's Republican Party nominating convention in Jacksonville, Florida, because of the coronavirus outbreak. (AFP/Drew Angerer)

U

S President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was scrapping next month's Republican Party nominating convention in Jacksonville, Florida, because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump, speaking at a White House press conference, said it was not the right time to do a "big, crowded convention."

"The timing for this event is not right, it's just not right with what's happened recently," he said.

Trump said convention events would be held "online in some form."

He said Republican delegates who will nominate him as the party's candidate in November's election against Democrat Joe Biden will gather in North Carolina for a "reasonably quick meeting." 

The main reason for cancelling the Jacksonville event was "safety," he said.

"I could see the media saying 'Oh, this is very unsafe,'" Trump added.

"It's hard for us to say we should have a lot of people packed into a room and then other people shouldn't do it," he said. "There's nothing more crowded than a convention.

"I think we're setting an example by doing it."

The Republican convention had been scheduled to be held in Jacksonville from August 24-27.

Florida has recently experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, which topped four million in the United States on Thursday.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.