Trump says he will accept Republican nomination in North Carolina after all

Max Cohen
·2 min read

Donald Trump on Monday said he would accept the Republican nomination for president in North Carolina, marking a return to a state he spurned in June over its restriction of large gatherings due to the coronavirus.

The announcement is the latest development in Trump’s Republican National Convention walk-back and comes days after the president canceled his plans to host the convention's keynote events in Jacksonville, Fla.

"I'll be in North Carolina, and that's a very big deal because we have a lot of the delegates there and that'll be a nomination process," Trump told WRAL, a Raleigh, N.C. television station. "And that's essentially where the nomination, where it's formalized. And I'm really honored to do it in North Carolina."

Trump told WRAL he would announce the exact location of his acceptance speech in the coming week.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Republican National Convention was set to take place in Charlotte. But as cases and deaths mounted in North Carolina over the spring, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper insisted a scaled-down convention was necessary.

Trump bristled at the possible denial of a blockbuster event and wrote on Twitter on June 2 that he would be moving the main action of the convention away from North Carolina.

Nine days later, the Republican National Committee picked Jacksonville as its new destination, with Trump scheduled to deliver the keynote acceptance address as part of a multinight event. But the shift to Jacksonville proved to be too fraught with complications as Florida’s Covid-19 caseload spiked, straining the state's resources.

As recently as July 21, Trump campaign officials were assuring the public the event could go on safely, even as local law enforcement sounded warning signs. Trump called off the Jacksonville event on July 23.

“It's just not the right time,” Trump said.

The North Carolina Democratic Party blasted Trump’s acceptance speech flip-flop as evidence of his “bungled response to the coronavirus.”