NORTH CAROLINA — Days after President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum about the fate of the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, GOP planners have yet to respond to Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for information about contingencies for the event amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the state.
“We’re ready to hold the RNC convention in North Carolina in a safe way,” Cooper said Thursday afternoon during a news conference.
“For weeks and months, the health experts in our office have had conversations with the people organizing the RNC about how to have it in a safe way,” he said. Similar conversations are ongoing with the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Hornets, along with other arenas that anticipate opening in the coming months, he said.
“We have yet to receive any plans,” Cooper said. “We’re not on any timeline here. We want to work with them.”
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Cooper asked for the plans in writing Tuesday following a biting series of tweets from Trump threatening to pull the convention scheduled for late August if the state couldn’t guarantee “full attendance” at the event. By Tuesday afternoon, Trump doubled down on the threat, saying Cooper needed to make a decision in the next week. “If he can’t do it, if he feels he’s not going to do it, all he has to do is tell us,” Trump said at a White House news briefing. “And then we’ll have to pick another location. And I tell you, a lot of locations want it.”
North Carolina is currently under a “Phase 2” executive order, which bans mass gatherings for groups of 25 or more outdoors and 10 or more indoors. That executive order is set to be in place through at least June 26.
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Prior to the pandemic, the RNC event was projected to bring between $100 million and $300 million in economic revenue to the Charlotte metro region, according to the Charlotte 2020 host committee.
The request for coronavirus contingency plans from the RNC is not without precedent, Cooper said earlier in the week, citing a similar request fulfilled by NASCAR prior to the Coca-Cola 600 held in Charlotte over the holiday weekend. The event became the first major sporting event held in the state since the pandemic began.
“NASCAR ran the Coca-Cola 600 without spectators and used appropriate social distancing, face covering, hand hygiene and signage,” North Carolina’s Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said Tuesday afternoon.
“They took precautions seriously and had a great event that was enjoyed by millions,” she said. “Let’s all take the precautions that NASCAR did.”
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