GOP Still 'Fully Committed' to Convention

Major summer events including the Olympics have been canceled or postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic—but it's full steam ahead for the Republican National Convention, according to organizers. The North Carolina Republican Party says they are still planning to hold their statewide convention in May and the Republican National Committee is still planning to hold the national convention in Charlotte Aug. 24-27, Fox 46 reports. "We are fully committed to holding the Republican convention in Charlotte as planned and re-nominating President Trump," says RNC chief of staff Michael Walters. "We have not had any substantive conversations about alternative scenarios." Some states, including Texas and Virginia, have delayed party conventions and discussed virtual alternatives.

The Democratic National Committee has said it is going ahead with the July 13-16 convention in Milwaukee, though it said Monday that organizers are "exploring a range of contingency options to ensure we can deliver a successful convention without unnecessary risk to public health," Politico reports. RNC organizers say the convention is in far better financial shape than the 2016 event and they hope to raise $65 million by the end of June. (More Republican National Convention stories.)