A.G. Gancarski
As the New York Times reported, the Republican National Convention is experiencing fundraising troubles ahead of next month’s event in Jacksonville, according to Mayor Lenny Curry.
“As it relates to the fundraising,” Curry told reporters Tuesday in Jacksonville, “individuals have said ‘Yes, the fundraising has not been as easy as usual because we don’t have two to three years to raise the money.'”
“And obviously we’re dealing with COVID-19,” the Mayor and co-chair of the host committee added. “But the host committee … [is] successfully raising money at this time.”
Curry’s description of COVID-19 as a problem contradicts rhetoric in previous weeks from both him and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who vowed to help make a full-scale convention work for President Donald Trump before cases spiked in Jacksonville and throughout Florida.
“The convention is many, many weeks away, in late August,” the Mayor added. “We’re acting appropriately now. We’ll act appropriately at the time.”
The Mayor went on to suggest that perhaps a full-occupancy convention may not be in the cards after all, given the state still being in Phase 2 reopening, which includes indoor occupancy caps.
“Facilities cannot participate in anything over 50% capacity,” Curry said. “That’s where we are right now. So we’re just going to continue to evaluate as we move toward that date.”
The issues with funding and occupancy reveal how the narrative has changed in just a matter of weeks.
In late May, Curry made the pitch for the RNC, noting the city could host in a “responsible way” after President Donald Trump said he wanted out of North Carolina, which was in “shutdown mode.”
Since then, however, the rate of infection has spiked in Jacksonville.
Tests tabulated July 6 by the Department of Health showed an over 15% positive rate, a number in line with tallies for most of the last two weeks. The median age of positive tests is also up, to 39 years of age as of July 6.
Meanwhile, Curry himself has self-quarantined, in light of an infection in his circle of associates.
3 comments
Jim Donelon
July 7, 2020 at 1:02 pm
Perhaps it not the Covid 19 virus that is affecting the fund raising, but the virus that occupies the White House.
Frankie M.
July 7, 2020 at 1:30 pm
Is Lenny sacrificing errr I mean sending his kids back to public school (not your alma mater BK) when they open up a month from now? Because it’s state mandated.
Sonja Fitch
July 7, 2020 at 1:31 pm
Cancel the RNC! Our children are being put at risk for that lousy dam Putin loving scum traitor trump! Cancel the RNC! Looting Lenny the goptrump cult donors know a LOOSER and are not going to BOUNTY up the money! Cancel the RNC! That Putin loving scum traitor trump is not welcome in Jacksonville, a proud military community!
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