The move from Charlotte, N.C., where the Republican convention was originally planned, came after the president demanded to hold an event without social distancing rules.
President Trump will deliver his Aug. 27 convention speech in Jacksonville, Fla., inside an arena that holds 15,000 people, after his demands for an event without social distancing rules led to a rift with Democratic leaders in North Carolina, where the Republican convention was originally planned.
Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, confirmed on Thursday that the speech would take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, a diverse city where the mayor and the governor are both Republican allies of Mr. Trump’s.
An R.N.C. official would not say what, if any, coronavirus safety precautions would be put in place.
Reportedly, this will be his speech accepting his renomination for the presidency.
. . . .
The event for Mr. Trump in Jacksonville, not in Charlotte, N.C., as planned, coincides with one of the darkest days in the city’s history.
The president will address his supporters on the 60th anniversary of “Ax Handle Saturday,” when a white mob organized by the Ku Klux Klan attacked mostly black civil rights protesters sitting at the city’s whites-only lunch counters.
. . . .
It was not clear that the historical resonance of the date for the city, which is about 30 percent African-American, was known to Republican officials before its selection.
No, I would guess not.
First Juneteenth in Oklahoma City and now this.
American history is a minefield for this oblivious white president, his obvious white White House team, and his oblivious white party.
On the other hand, it is not impossible that, as Democrats of the racial left have charged, he and his team knew perfectly well about both Juneteenth and Ax Handle Saturday and scheduled these events on these days in order to amuse and please white racists.
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