Corona 4 Million Cases Surrender... Trump Abruptly Cancels Republican National Convention

Changed stance amid rising COVID-19 cases across US including Florida
Also hints at partial delay of fall semester start

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled the Republican National Convention, which was to be his presidential campaign launch event. Despite insisting on holding a convention with a large audience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump ultimately surrendered as the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpassed 4 million.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

On the 23rd (local time), during a COVID-19 briefing at the White House, President Trump stated, "This is not the appropriate time to hold a large-scale convention," and announced, "I have instructed to cancel the main events of the convention." The Republican National Convention was scheduled to be held from August 24 to 27 in Jacksonville, Florida. He added, "I will deliver the acceptance speech in a different format, but I will not hold a packed convention," emphasizing, "This is not the right time to do that."

President Trump emphasized safety as the reason behind the cancellation decision. During the briefing, he said, "I must protect the American people." According to Johns Hopkins University, as of that afternoon, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was 4,005,414, with 143,820 deaths recorded.

In particular, Florida, where the convention was planned, recorded 173 COVID-19 deaths that day, marking the highest daily death toll. The number of new confirmed cases was 10,249. Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, has a cumulative total of 18,357 confirmed cases.

This decision is seen as a dramatic change considering his previous actions. Despite concerns over the spread of COVID-19, he had insisted on holding an in-person convention. The New York Times (NYT) described it as a "surprise announcement" and said he "bowed to the threat of COVID-19."

It appears that the judgment was also influenced by the potential serious backlash if the in-person convention were to proceed ahead of the presidential election. Having witnessed the spread of the virus at the first large-scale rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the COVID-19 outbreak, holding a campaign launch event became burdensome. Since resuming COVID-19 briefings, President Trump has repeatedly issued measures that differ from his previous stance, including changing his position on mask usage.

President Trump explained that the official nomination process would take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, the original convention site. However, he did not disclose specific methods or schedules. Charlotte's state government had mandated social distancing, making it impossible to hold a large-scale convention. U.S. media reported that only Republican delegates would gather in Charlotte to nominate President Trump as the presidential candidate, and he would deliver the acceptance speech in that format.

As a result, neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party will be able to hold a normal convention ahead of the November 3 presidential election. The Democratic Party, which postponed its convention by a month due to the COVID-19 situation, had already decided to hold a virtual convention via video conference from August 17 to 20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

President Trump also stepped back from his stance on pushing for the fall semester school reopening. During the briefing, he mentioned that some states experiencing severe COVID-19 resurgence should delay the start of the fall semester by a few weeks. He added, "In those states, governors should decide on school reopening based on statistics," and explained, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will announce additional guidelines for safe school reopening."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.