Trump Cancels Jacksonville Part of GOP Convention, Delegates to Do Nomination in North Carolina

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his family are joined by vice presidential nominee Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and his family on stage at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 21, 2016. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

President Trump on Thursday said that the part of the GOP convention in Jacksonville, Florida, was canceled.

The delegates will still gather at Charlotte, North Carolina, to do the nomination, he announced during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

“The delegates are going to North Carolina, they'll be doing the nomination,” he said.

For the Florida part of the GOP convention, there will be tele- and online rallies instead of a physical convention.

The president will still do a convention speech “in a different form.”

“We won’t do a big crowded convention per se, it’s just not the right time for that,” Trump said. “I care deeply about the people of Florida and everywhere else in this country and even in the world.”

“I want to thank all the Jacksonville community ... and all of the other political representatives in the Jacksonville and in Florida,” he added.

The Florida Department of Health on Thursday reported over 389,000 infections and 5,518 deaths with COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

The president said safety is the main reason that causes the cancellation of the GOP convention in Jacksonville and Florida didn’t require him to cancel it.

RNC officials once shifted some of the convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville after negotiations over crowd size with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, stalled.

The Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced in early June that Trump will accept the Republican nomination this year in Jacksonville.

Trump was scheduled to publicly accept the Republican nomination on the final day of the convention, August 27. For the final day, each delegate, a guest, and alternate delegates will be allowed to attend, she said in mid-July.

It’s unclear if there will be any change to the schedule.

The Republican National Committee didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Zackary Stieber contributed to the report.