President Trump Holds Briefing At White House
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about his administration's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the White House on July 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced new guidelines for schools to re-open as the U.S. reported more COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks (915,000) than it did during all of June. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Florida segment of the Republican National Convention was cancelled by President Donald Trump on Thursday, citing the threat of coronavirus in the state.

The GOP Convention was scheduled for August, with four nights in Jacksonville, Florida that was set to draw more than 10,000 people.

"I told my team it's time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of the GOP convention," Trump said in a press conference at the White House. The convention was supposed to mark his renomination, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In light of the cancellation, he would be holding virtual events instead and would still deliver an acceptance speech, said a report from the NBC.

North Carolina Convention Will Push Through

His renomination would still go forward in North Carolina. In that event, a small subset of GOP delegates will come to Charlotte, North Carolina for just four hours on August 24. It's different from the four nights they had planned for Florida.

Trump said the Florida convention was supposedly a "four-night infomercial" for his reelection, The Christian Science Monitor reported. The president noted that it was "not the right time" to hold a big in-person event in Florida, and said he had "to protect the American people."

He said people were looking forward to attend the event, "making travel arrangements all over the country." But he said he "just felt it was wrong" to gather all of them in a virus hotspot. Some of them would have to face quarantine requirements once they return to their homes.

The president's advisers also feared that the big "infomercial" programming will backfire on him.

"It's a different world, and it will be for a little while. To have a big convention is not the right time," Trump said. In the meantime, he is still due to announce the new plans for the convention that will likely happen in a "different form" from the event he had first planned.

Funding for GOP Convention

Last month, Trump moved the ceremonial portions of the GOP convention in Florida due to disputes with North Carolina's Democratic leaders over holding the indoor gathering with many supporters.

The convention's key funding bill faced threats of opposition as the City Council president raised safety and health concerns.

It faced struggles in raising money from donors, sources said. Donors were doubtful if the event would take place as it was moved from North Carolina to Florida and they were asked for more contributions.

Shortly after the move was announced, the plans for a grand gathering grew smaller as the virus cases in Florida spiked along with other parts of the country.

Trump said there wasn't any pressure from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and they had talked about his decision. He said he considered safety concerns and the media backlash he knew he would get.

He said he could see the media saying the gathering was very unsafe. He doesn't "want to be in that position."

Deaths related to coronavirus in Florida reached a new high on Thursday as 173 were recorded. It was the state's largest daily increase. Florida also announced 10,249 new cases, which made the total count to nearly 390,000.

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