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Trump Threatens to Pull GOP Convention Out of North Carolina Over Coronavirus Restrictions

Trump said he would move the event unless Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper can guarantee “full attendance” at the convention, which typically draws thousands.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina in August unless Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper can guarantee “full attendance” at the event, which typically draws tens of thousands of people. Republicans, Trump tweeted, “must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced... to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site.”

Gov. Cooper has started to ease restrictions in North Carolina, allowing retail stores and restaurants to reopen at 50 percent capacity but still banning large gatherings. “In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space,” Trump added in another tweet. Cooper has said that the fate of the convention will be determined by “health experts, data and science,” rather than by political demands.