CHARLOTTE — President Donald Trump is determined to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte as planned this summer. Local leaders say they aren’t thinking that far ahead yet.
“Somebody was asking today, ‘Will you cancel the convention?’ and I said, ‘No way am I going to cancel the convention,’” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night. “We are not going to cancel the convention. It is going to be incredible.”
[SPECIAL SECTION: TRACKING CORONAVIRUS]
Trump said in an interview that he thinks the convention will be in "great shape," considering its date being set at the end of August.
The convention is scheduled for August 24-27.
Last week, the NCGOP said RNC officials are monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and are working with federal, state and local officials to determine whether they will need to make any changes to the schedule.
In a news conference, county manager Dena Diorio said it is too early to tell whether the convention will need to be postponed or canceled.
"That is not until the end of August. There's a lot of months and things that can happen between now and the end of August," Diorio said. "Quite frankly, we are not looking that far down the road. We are trying to get through the next several weeks and flatten the curve and slow the spread."
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for July in Milwaukee. A spokesperson for the DNC told the New York Times that it is exploring a range of contingency options.
This browser does not support the video element.