Governor DeSantis says Florida would love to host the RNC if President Trump pulls it out of North Carolina
MIAMI, Fla. - Florida is opening its doors to the Republican National Convention (RNC), as both Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party is welcoming to host the convention if it is pulled out of North Carolina.
President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to pull the Republican National Convention out of North Carolina if the state’s governor doesn’t immediately sign off on allowing a full-capacity gathering in August.
Trump’s tweets about the upcoming RNC in Charlotte came just two days after North Carolina’s largest daily increase in virus cases yet.
On Friday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper moved the state into a second reopening phase by loosening restrictions on hair salons, barbers, and restaurants. However, he said the state must move cautiously now. He is keeping indoor entertainment venues, gyms, and bars closed for the time being.
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President Trump also denied any interest in moving the RNC to his resort in Doral, Florida, tweeting that "I have zero interest in moving the Republican National Convention to Doral in Miami."
However, the Republican Party of Florida welcomed the idea of moving the RNC to the Sunshine State nonetheless.
Governor DeSantis welcomed it as well on Tuesday, stating "Florida would love to have the RNC. Heck, I'm a Republican -- it'd be good for us to have the DNC in terms of the economic impact when you talk about having major events like that. So, my posture on all this is that we should try to get it done as best we can and in accordance with whatever safety guidelines."
If we can get that done and do it in a way that's safe, that would be a huge economic impact on Florida," he added. "We lost out with the pandemic coming. We lost out on some of the more traditional events that we normally do. Some of the golf tournaments, tennis, we had Wrestlemania scheduled for April -- which people don't realize is hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity."
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He went on to say that "Florida wants to work with you. If you're a business, a sports team, if you have some of these events, we want to work with you to get to yes."
He also acknowledged that he has not spoken to President Trump directly about moving the RNC but that he has told the White House that Florida is interested. He cited cities like Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville as one of the numerous options that the state has to offer.
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The Associated Press, FOX News, and FOX 13 Tampa Bay contributed to this report.