As the Republican National Convention reportedly looks for a new home this summer, Florida’s governor has an idea: move the event to the Sunshine State.
During an event Wednesday at Universal Orlando, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be open to hosting the event after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced they would not allow the changing of social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic
President Donald Trump tweeted the event, scheduled for August 24th through the 27th in Charlotte, would be moving.
“My opinion is it should be a default yes, and as we get closer we’ll see how it goes,” DeSantis said, adding locations such as Orlando and Jacksonville would fit based on hotels and arena capacity.
DeSantis said he would also speak to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez about the county hosting the event.
The governor said that countries such as China and Italy not showing a second wave of the virus at this point means the United States should be fine for events in the coming months.
“This is almost three months off,” he said. “I think we would be able to pull it off, but as we get closer and need to call an audible…heck, he’s got the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) at his disposal.”
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DeSantis said that he would also be open to hosting the Democratic National Convention, currently scheduled to be held the week before the RNC, in Florida if it needed to be moved from its current host city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the pandemic.
DeSantis added Florida would enter phase two of reopening, including allowing bars and nightclubs to resume services under capacity restrictions, starting Friday in all counties except Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.
