The Republican National Committee has no plans to scale down the August convention to renominate President Trump, according to Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
The pandemic has forced the delay, cancellation, or restructuring of large events as part of an aggressive social distancing strategy to stem the rate of infections and deaths. But less than 24 hours after Trump unveiled a blueprint to transition the United States back to normal, McDaniel said the RNC is confident that a four-day convention set to begin Aug. 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and draw thousands from across the country would not be interrupted.
“We are full steam ahead,” she said in a telephone interview Friday. “We’re ready to go.”
The Democratic Party decided to postpone its mid-July Milwaukee convention to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden until Aug. 17. Biden said in a recent interview that he may have no choice but to accept the Democratic nomination virtually.
According to McDaniel, corporate sponsorship and other funding for the event has not been adversely affected by a pandemic-induced recession that has closed thousands of businesses and put 22 million people out of work. That is significant because the political parties lost access to federal funding for their expensive, quadrennial nominating conventions in legislation signed by President Barack Obama in 2014.
McDaniel said the party has not developed contingency plans for an abridged convention, which might yet be necessary because of lingering health risks from the coronavirus. So far, 677,000 people in the United States have been infected, and 35,000 have died. But the chairwoman said the RNC, in consultation with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and state officials, would reassess matters by early July to determine whether “adjustments” to the convention were needed.
McDaniel emphasized that RNC bylaws require party delegates to meet in person in some fashion to hold the vote to nominate the party’s presidential candidate. Until nominated, Trump will not have access to the cash he has been raising for his general election campaign account.
“A virtual convention is not on the table for us. So no matter what, we will be having a physical convention — or a physical nominating process,” McDaniel said.
The Trump campaign has transitioned to a virtual footing, shifting rapidly from knocking on millions of doors in battleground states to targeting voters with millions of text messages. The president’s team also has launched a daily lineup of online broadcasts, featuring prominent Trump supporters and campaign officials, to spread his message and spark interest in his reelection.
But Trump, who had planned an almost weekly slate of his signature stadium campaign rallies, tends to thrive on high-energy, live events. Unless a raging public health crisis makes it absolutely necessary, the president is unlikely to relinquish the opportunity to accept renomination by the Republican Party in front of a large, enthusiastic audience.
McDaniel said Trump is not worried about the convention.
“The president isn’t thinking about this at all,” she said. “He’s so focused on, ‘How do we pull our country out of this and balance the health and safety of the American people with getting people working again?’ So I think it would be refreshing to get to a point where we’re actually talking about having rallies again and having conventions because that means our country is healing.”
