Trump Seeks New Convention Location After N.C. Governor Holds Ground On COVID Safety Measures
President Donald Trump and Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have been in escalating discussions about whether the Republican convention can be held as planned amid the pandemic. Cooper on Tuesday said that with the state of the outbreak being so fluid, he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be safety measures in place that would affect attendance. Officials say it isn't a done deal, but Republicans are looking into other cities. How the coronavirus crisis is impacting the primaries and voting is also reported.
The New York Times:
Republican Convention Feud Escalates As Officials Weigh New Site
Republicans said Tuesday night that they were moving President Trump’s convention speech out of Charlotte, N.C., and to another city, after coming to a stalemate with Democratic officials in the state about safety and crowd size restrictions because of the coronavirus. Michael Ahrens, communications director of the Republican National Committee, said that “the celebration of the president’s acceptance of the Republican nomination will be held in another city.” But Republican officials also said they could still hold other convention business in Charlotte, so as not to break a formal contract they signed with the city more than two years ago. (Karni, 6/2)
The Associated Press:
Trump Says GOP Is Pulling Convention From North Carolina
Trump announced the news via tweet, complaining the state’s governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, and other officials “refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena” and were not “allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised.” “Because of @NC_Governor, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention,” he wrote. Trump and the Republican National Committee had been demanding that the convention be allowed to move forward with a full crowd and no face coverings — raising alarms in a state that is facing an upward trend in its virus cases, with about 29,900 cumulative cases and 900 deaths as of Tuesday. (Anderson, Robertson and Colvin, 6/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Again Threatens To Move Republican Convention
The Democratic governor said in a letter to the RNC that uncertainty around the pandemic made it impossible to promise that a large convention could be held. “Planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity,” he wrote. Mr. Cooper cited May 30 correspondence from the RNC that he said demanded a “full convention,” including 19,000 delegates, alternative delegates, staff, volunteers, elected officials and guests. He also listed the party’s expectation of “full hotels and restaurants and bars at capacity” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (McCormick, 6/2)
Politico:
Trump Slams North Carolina And Says He's Moving GOP Convention Elsewhere
Republicans had already begun weighing other locations. Party officials are planning a visit to Nashville later this week. Other possibilities include Las Vegas; Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida; and Georgia. All of the prospective sites have directly expressed interest in hosting the convention, and party officials say it’s likely they will visit several of them in the coming days. Other states also are likely to make a play. Arizona, which has a Republican governor, is among the states voicing interest in recent days, according to two people briefed on the process. (King and Isenstadt, 6/2)
The Washington Post:
Trump Says GOP Will Look To Move Convention Out Of North Carolina
The announcement, nearly two years after Republicans began planning the event in Charlotte, marks the latest political confrontation over how to handle the coronavirus pandemic. North Carolina Democrats say the scale of any convention has to depend on health conditions in the state, where coronavirus-related hospitalizations peaked in late May. “As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely,” Cooper wrote Tuesday in a letter to Republican leaders. “Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.” (Scherer and Dawsey, 6/2)
NBC News:
Trump Says He's Yanking RNC From North Carolina Over Potential Coronavirus Restrictions
Last week, Trump threatened to move the event from Charlotte if there was a chance that the venue could not be filled because of virus-related restrictions, tweeting that Cooper must "guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance" in the arena. The Republican National Committee said in a letter that it wanted a 19,000-person convention in August, even though public health officials have said large gatherings can be dangerous. (Timm and Alba, 6/2)
CNN:
Trump Says GOP Forced To Find New State To Host Convention As North Carolina Stands By Coronavirus Measures
Two sources with knowledge cautioned that it appears the decision isn't final. But the sources say there have been tense conversations in the last 48 hours between the RNC and the governor's office ahead of Trump's self-imposed deadline, which is Wednesday. (Merica, Nobles and Diamond, 6/2)
The New York Times:
Pandemic, Protests And Police: An Election Like No Other
On the biggest day of voting since the coronavirus disrupted public life, Americans cast ballots in extraordinary circumstances on Tuesday, heading to the polls during a national health and economic crisis and amid the widespread protests and police deployments that have disrupted communities across the nation. The most high-profile race of the day produced a surprising result when Representative Steve King, the Iowa Republican who was ostracized by his party after questioning why white nationalism was offensive, lost his primary to Randy Feenstra, a state senator who had the tacit support of much of the state’s G.O.P. establishment. (Epstein and Corasaniti, 6/2)
The Washington Post:
Primary Election Day In 8 State And D.C. Marked By Confusion
Voters in primaries around the country reported problems with mail-in ballots and confusion about where to turn out in person, as protests over the killing of George Floyd threatened to combine with the coronavirus pandemic to disrupt elections. Primaries were held Tuesday in eight states and the District of Columbia, with nearly every jurisdiction facing a surge of interest in voting by mail and accompanying logistical problems. In several places, the number of in-person voting places was significantly reduced, and cities including the District experienced long lines that grew into the early evening. (Gardner, Viebeck and Pompilio, 6/2)
Politico:
Mass Upheaval And Pandemic Spell Trouble For A Megaday Of Primaries
"We are particularly concerned about how the protests, and particularly the response to the protests, are going to affect voting," said Suzanne Almeida, the interim executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. She cited two particular stress points: curfews and an increased police presence. "If you look at the genesis of the protest that we saw over the weekend, it is police violence toward people of color," Almeida said. "Then asking people to walk through, or near, or around police or National Guard who are armed can feel dangerous. Particularly voters of color, but other voters as well." (Montellaro, 6/2)
Stateline:
Trump's Attacks On Vote-By-Mail Worry Some Election Officials
There is growing concern among election officials and experts that the increasingly partisan debate around voting by mail could sow doubt in the results of the presidential election. For months, President Donald Trump has been one of the loudest opponents to vote by mail, which experts agree is a safe alternative to in-person voting during the novel coronavirus outbreak. There is little evidence it leads to voter fraud or benefits one party over another. (Vasilogambros, 6/3)
