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President Donald Trump will accept the Republican Party nomination for a second term in Jacksonville, Florida during the last week of August.
The event was moved to Florida from the original site of the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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“We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a press release. “We look forward to bringing this great celebration and economic boom to the Sunshine State in just a few short months.”
Due to contractual obligations, some of the party’s business will still take place in Charlotte. However, Trump’s acceptance and speech will be in Jacksonville.
Trump will make his speech at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena which has a 15,000-seat capacity.
The location was changed because North Carolina governor, Roy Cooper, was not willing to allow the event to take place without social distancing measures.
In a letter to the RNC, Cooper had previously written, “The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity.”
Republicans were unwilling to utilize such measures.
In an interview with CNN, Dean Black the chairman of the Republican Party in Duval County said that Jacksonville is “Trump country.” He noted that the city is “a battleground county in a battleground state, in a city where you have unified Republican governance.”
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Jacksonville has just over two months to prepare for the convention, the RNC is currently recruiting volunteers. The event could bring in up to $100 million in revenues for the city.
Trump’s speech is scheduled for August 27, the date will also be the 60th anniversary of an incident known as “Ax Handle Saturday.” According to the Florida Historical Society, it was on August 27, 1960 when a white mob violently attacked Black protesters advocating for civil rights.
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