As the coronavirus rages across Florida, an Illinois Republican congressman aiding President Trump’s campaign said his colleagues are pessimistic about the prospects for the convention in Jacksonville.
“Everybody just assumes no one is going,” Rep. Darin LaHood of Illinois, an honorary state co-chairman for the Trump campaign, told the New York Times, joining seven other Republican House members from Arizona, Michigan, Indiana, and New York who said they did not plan to attend.
Florida is the country’s virus epicenter, with 282,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday. The state added more cases over a single day this weekend than any state prior, adding 15,299 new cases Saturday.
An order that people wear masks is already in place in Jacksonville. Host committee spokesperson Erin Isaac said in a memo last week that all attendees “will be tested and temperature checked each day.”
Trump, too, has mused about the potential for a smaller convention, telling Gray Television’s Greta Van Susteren last week that if cases continue to spike, changes could be made.
“We’re always looking at different things,” Trump said of the convention, which was moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, after a disagreement with local officials about coronavirus safety measures.
“It really depends on the timing,” Trump said. “Look, we’re very flexible. We can do a lot of things, but we’re very flexible.”
