Republican Convention Being Scaled Back Despite Trump Wishes Amid Coronavirus Surge

President Trump likely will not get the Republican convention he envisioned when he decided to move the conclave from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, because of coronavirus restrictions now that Florida is seeing its case counts surge.

To complicate the situation, Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams warned that he can’t guarantee security for convention-goers because of a lack of adequate funding, clear plans and law enforcement officers.

The Republican National Committee sent a memo, cutting back the number of people who will be allowed to attend the convention and limit the number of alternates and guests, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's demands that the GOP limit the number of attendees and take coronavirus mitigation precautions were Trump’s main reason for moving the convention.

At the time, Trump said he wanted to see a full convention hall, not empty seats. Several high-profile Republicans already have announced they will not attend, including Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mitt Romney of Utah.

Trump has tried to downplay the dangers posed by the pandemic, which has killed nearly 141,000 U.S. residents, about 500 in the past 24 hours. The president initially refused to take the basic precaution of wearing a face mask in public, but recently relented, tweeting a photo of himself wearing one on Monday and calling it “patriotic.”

The Republican convention is scheduled for Aug. 24-27, with Trump expected to make his nomination acceptance speech on the final night. Talk earlier this month included consideration of an outdoor venue, but heat and possible storms make that proposition iffy.

The RNC memo calls for delegates to take coronavirus tests before they travel to Jacksonville and again before Trump arrives. It also establishes protocols like aggressive sanitizing, on-site temperature checks and distribution of personal protective gear, presumably face masks.

“We will follow the local and state health guidelines in place at the time of the convention,” the memo said.

The Jacksonville area has seen a more than 25% increase in the number of coronavirus cases since last week – 699 since Monday – and a 12.6% increase in the number of deaths.

The pandemic isn’t the only thing threatening to upend the convention.

“It’s not my event to plan, but I can just tell you that what has been proposed in my opinion is not achievable right now ... from a law enforcement standpoint, from a security standpoint,” Sheriff Mike Williams told Politico.

Williams said funding had been cut back by a third and strings attached to contracts make them difficult to let. He said the event schedule has yet to be finalized, making planning difficult.

“We do need law enforcement officers and we’ve gotten commitments, but not to the level that we thought we needed. And a lot of that is people having virus concerns from their communities, and I understand that,” Williams said.