MIAMI (WSVN) - President Donald Trump is seeking to host the Republican National Convention in South Florida in August after the governor of North Carolina refused to guarantee the convention could be held at the Spectrum Arena in Charlotte without restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A portion of the RNC may still be held in North Carolina due to contractual obligations, but Trump sees South Florida, particularly Miami, as a potential new venue for the event.
He tweeted, “Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina, a place I love. Now, @NC_Gov Roy Cooper and his representatives refused to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena…”
He continued to say that Cooper is “not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised.”
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear during his visit to Miami that the state would love to work with Trump in hosting the RNC.
“Florida would love to have the RNC,” DeSantis said. “I have not spoken with the president specifically on that, but we let the folks at the White House know that we want to work with him and we think that would be a good thing to do.”
Florida and other states have been making a bid after the president tweeted on May 25 about the possibility of moving the RNC due to capacity restrictions in North Carolina because of COVID-19.
There is a possibility that Miami could be a potential host.
“We’ll be open to it,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said.
Gimenez said that the economic benefits of hosting the RNC in Miami would be enormous. He told 7News’ Brian Entin that locations like the AmericanAirlines Arena or the recently renovated Miami Beach Convention Center could be possibilities.
When asked about concerns regarding people from other places coming down to Miami to attend the RNC due to coronavirus pandemic, Gimenez replied, “Well, no. You put safety procedures in place, so no, I wouldn’t be that concerned about it. You could ask them to get tested, and so… Look, there’s a lot of ways to make that happen, and so we would definitely be interested in it.”
Gimenez also said that if the RNC is held in Miami-Dade or Florida in general, it would be beneficial to Floridians across the state.
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