President Trump got his wish. He’s going to make his initial reelection pitch against Democrat Joe Biden before a boisterous, unmasked, and not socially distanced crowd.
The Republican Party’s last-minute decision to yank the 2020 GOP national convention’s crowning moment from Charlotte, North Carolina, sets the stage for Trump to underscore his differences with Biden during the Aug. 24-27 event. And now he’ll be able to do that with a dramatic display of pomp and circumstance at the quadrennial gathering, despite his own federal government advising otherwise during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced recently that Jacksonville, Florida, will host Trump’s nomination acceptance speech. The move comes after weeks of threats escalated into action. The coronation address will cap three days of festivities in Jacksonville. Party faithful will then return to their respective corners and prepare for what’s expected to be a brutal, bare-knuckle general election.
Biden will launch his bid a week earlier from Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin. The former vice president’s track record suggests it will be a cautious approach to campaigning during the pandemic and an understated affair. Party officials are still grappling with how to hold a convention in a city that’s slapped restrictions on groups larger than 250 people. The compromise will likely be a combination of in-person and virtual events, given past confabs have attracted more than 50,000.
It’s only one aspect of a convention, but crowds matter to the political spectacle. Optics propel polling surges and start fall fights right before any October surprises.
For Republican strategist Brad Todd, Biden has more pressing concerns than fewer convention attendees.
“I think one of Joe Biden’s challenges is proving he has the strength and vigor to lead a nation in turbulent times,” Todd told the Washington Examiner. “His ‘Uncle Joe’ persona they have cultivated seems suitable to listening to stories he tells on the front porch, and missing a convention is missing a chance to get beyond that and into a position of strength. Were I in their shoes, I would’ve done an outdoor acceptance speech at Miller Park.”
Ed Goeas, a Republican strategist and the 2008 GOP national convention’s program director, said the risk that the virus will reemerge plagues planning on both sides. Yet Goeas understood Trump’s desire to rally a stadium full of people.
“It is where he thinks he communicates the best,” Goeas said. “It could go either way for him. But quite frankly, any sized crowd could go either way for these conventions, depending on if there is a big spike and things change.”
Goeas recalled eleventh-hour edits he made to the 2008 GOP convention agenda due to Hurricane Gustav, including coming up with contingencies in case they had to nix the St, Paul, Minnesota, gathering.
“I’m hearing that a lot of the normal, corporate, big events are being trimmed down at both conventions, which means there’s not going to be a lot of that kind of hoopla and excitement,” he said. “You can build a pretty good program, regardless of what resources you have, to make it look different to the outside.”
However, Goeas warned another danger for Democrats was timing since Trump could immediately cancel out any traction they drum up the week after during his version.
Both McDaniel and Republican Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry have touted the prospect of a “packed” convention venue.
“They want this to be a great event to show that their state is open, America is open for business, so we are going to have an arena,” McDaniel said of Curry and GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Curry added, “If there was an unexpected outbreak, health risk, hospitalization systems that couldn’t handle it, you — we would obviously adapt at that point in time.”
In response, Democrats charged Republicans with pandering to “an audience of one.”
“Trump and Republicans have decided to handle their convention planning the same way they’ve handled the entire coronavirus crisis: prioritize Trump’s ego over Americans’ health and safety,” DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa wrote in a statement. “While Donald Trump refuses to listen to health experts because he only cares about himself, Democrats will follow science and prioritize the health and safety of the American people.”
Charlotte was awarded the convention contract in 2018, given the work involved in staging the event. Then COVID-19 upended American life. It also caused a rift between Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Republicans seeking assurances the confab could take place with 19,000 convention-goers without masks and social distancing. Charlotte currently bans groups of more than 10 indoors and 25 outdoors.
Now, two months before the convention, delegates, officials, guests, and members of the media are scrambling to make arrangements so they can split their time between the North Carolina city and Jacksonville’s Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. Only 336 delegates will be required to be in Charlotte on Aug. 24 to nominate Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for the 2020 ticket. They’ll rubber-stamp the party’s policy platform this cycle as well.
Trump’s demand for rallies put pressure on his team to schedule a stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next Friday. His camp then slated it for next Saturday to avoid a clash with Juneteenth commemorations after roiled race relations around the country. Tulsa has no crowd limitations. Yet attendees have been asked to sign waivers agreeing not to sue Trump or the venue if they catch the virus.
In comparison, Biden has been giving smaller speeches or organizing intimate listening sessions close to his home in Delaware. He ripped Trump on Friday for his cavalier attitude.
“He knows the problem, but he’s not doing a damn thing about it,” he said.
The United States has reported a total of 2 million COVID-19 cases. Texas last week recorded 2,504 new cases, the most for the state since the beginning of the pandemic. Arizona, California, and Florida have also experienced spikes after reopening their economies.
