The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, plans to convene a traditional large-scale convention were cancelled a few weeks before the convention. Primary venues included the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., with many other remote venues also being utilized.
The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, but on June 2, 2020, President Donald Trump (who was to be renominated at the convention) and the Republican National Committee jointly decided to pull the event from Charlotte after the North Carolina state government declined to agree to Trump's demands to allow the convention to take place with a full crowd and without public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and face coverings. It was attempted to organize a full-scale convention in Jacksonville, Florida, but those plans were abandoned on July 23 and a downscaled convention was instead staged.
Some convention proceedings were still held in Charlotte, but the convention's prime-time program was staged primarily in Washington, D.C. Most speeches were delivered at Washington, D.C.'s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. In contrast to most conventions, the majority of speeches were pre-recorded. Other events and festivities, including Trump's acceptance speech, were held remotely at various locations, including Fort McHenry and the White House.
For the nomination, Trump faced only token opposition in the Republican primaries and caucuses, and had accumulated all but one of the available delegates during the primary season, with former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld winning a single delegate in the Iowa caucuses. Trump had unofficially clinched the Republican nomination in March 2020, when he reached 1,276 pledged delegates.
Background Allocation of pledged delegates
The base number of pledged delegates that were allocated to each of the 50 states were 10 at-large delegates, plus 3 district delegates for each congressional district. A fixed number of pledged delegates were allocated to Washington D.C., and each of the five U.S. territories. Bonus delegates are awarded to each state and territory based on whether it had elected (if applicable) through December 31, 2019 (after the 2019 off-year elections): a Republican governor, Republican majorities in either one or both chambers in its state legislature, one or two Republicans to the U.S. Senate, or a Republican majority in its delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. A state was also awarded additional bonus delegates if it was won by the Republican candidate, Trump, in the 2016 presidential election.
Logistics
Planning and staging
Charlotte, North Carolina, was the only city to officially submit a bid for the convention. On July 18, 2018, the RNC Site Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend holding the convention in Charlotte. The Republican National Committee made the selection official on July 20.
The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, but on June 2, 2020, President Donald Trump (who was to be renominated at the convention) and the Republican National Committee jointly decided to pull the event from Charlotte after the North Carolina state government declined to agree to Trump's demands to allow the convention to take place with a full crowd and without public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and face coverings.
Trump began searching for a new city to stage the convention. Republican National Committee officials stressed that even if the majority of activity was going to outside the city, the mechanics of the convention would remain in Charlotte. On June 11, the Republican National Committee confirmed that the main events and speeches of the convention would move to Jacksonville, Florida, including Trump's nomination acceptance speech on August 27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. However the convention's official business was to remain in Charlotte with a greatly reduced agenda and number of delegates. August 24 was to see a portion of the convention hosted in Charlotte, with the following three days of the convention being held in Jacksonville.
With a COVID-19 case surge in Florida occurring by mid-July, the possibility of the Jacksonville convention being canceled as well began to be discussed. Several of the local health restrictions in Charlotte that had prompted the RNC to seek a different location—requirements for people to wear masks and practice social distancing—were later adopted by Jacksonville. Plans to hold the convention in Jacksonville were abandoned on July 23.
On August 14, it was announced that much of the convention would take place at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. (part of the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building), which would serve as the convention's "central hub". With some events in Charlotte, this became the first since the 1860 Democratic National Conventions to be centered in two different cities.
Most speeches of the convention were delivered at Washington, D.C.'s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. Other events and festivities, including Trump's acceptance speech, were held remotely at various locations, including Fort McHenry and the White House. By tradition, because Republicans held the presidency, their convention was conducted after the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was held from August 17–20.
Format The nomination event took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the party was contractually obligated to conduct its official business there. Only just over 300 delegates were expected to attend.
The main speeches took place every night from 8:30 to 11:00 p.m. EDT. Headlining speakers spoke after 10:00 p.m. The speeches took place in Washington, D.C., rather than in Charlotte.
Staging of Trump's acceptance speech
On July 28, Trump said that he would accept the nomination in person in Charlotte. However, on August 5, he said he would "likely" accept the Republican nomination from the White House. A decision to accept a party's nomination from the White House would break a norm; the Associated Press noted that it would "mark an unprecedented use of federal property for partisan political purposes." The proposed plans also raised legal questions under the Hatch Act, which creates certain prohibitions on the use of public resources for political activity, and the legality of the plan was questioned by Republican senators Ron Johnson and John Thune. While the president is exempt from the Hatch Act's restrictions, the law applies to other federal employees. The ethics director of the Campaign Legal Center stated that "any federal employee who helps facilitate the acceptance speech risks violating the Hatch Act." Nonetheless, Trump tweeted that he had decided to hold it on the White House lawn anyway, announcing on August 13 that he had finalized this decision. It was ultimately decided that Trump's speech would be delivered from the South Lawn.
Since Trump accepted his nomination remotely, it was the first time a Republican nominee has done so since Alf Landon in 1936. Since Democratic nominee Joe Biden also accepted the Democratic nomination remotely (the first time a Democrat has done so since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944); 2020 was the first election since 1928 in which neither major-party nominee accepted their nominations in-person.
A massive fireworks display (using 7,800 fireworks) was staged to close the convention following Trump's speech. The display lasted roughly six minutes. The display included fireworks which spelled-out the words "Trump 2020".
Security
The Republican National Convention was originally to be a National Special Security Event. The originally-planned Charlotte convention had been awarded this status. The plans for a convention in Jacksonville had also been awarded this status. Jacksonville had been given $30 million federal grants for security.
The city of Jacksonville had paid $69,777 to a consulting company that was assisting them in security. When the convention was slated for Jacksonville, there had been concern expressed by Duval County sheriff Mike Williams over the ability of local law enforcement to provide security due to poor funding and lack of advance planning as a result of the late change of venue.
Platform Rather than adopting a new party platform, uniquely the Republicans decided simply to recycle their 2016 party platform, including several references to the "current president" and attacks on "the administration" (which in 2016 referred to Barack Obama and the Obama administration). The decision was criticized by Republican activists. In a tweet, Trump said that he would "prefer a new and updated platform, short form, if possible."
The RNC did not do this. Instead, it issued a one-page document stating opposition to the "Obama/Biden administration" and supporting President Trump's instead.
Schedule
The ultimate format of the convention had much of its content be prerecorded.
The official business of the convention, including the formal nominations of President Trump and Vice President Pence, was held in a morning session held August 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The business session in Charlotte included the formal renominations of both Pence (by voice vote) and Trump (by a traditional roll-call of the states). The voting was paused for addresses by Scott Walker (former governor of Wisconsin), Vice President Pence, and President Trump; all of whom had flown to Charlotte to address the delegates in-person. Trump's speech to the delegates ran for more than an hour.
At one point, no press was not going to be granted access to the Charlotte formal convention meeting. On August 1, a Republican convention spokesperson said that, "Given the health restrictions and limitations in place within the state of North Carolina, we are planning for the Charlotte activities to be closed press" for the entirety of the convention. The decision to bar press was criticized by the White House Correspondents' Association. However, a Republican National Committee official cited by the Associated Press indicated that "no final decisions have been made and that logistics and press coverage options were still being evaluated." However, on August 12, the chairman of the credentials committee, Doyle Webb, said that a tiny group of reporters would indeed be permitted to cover the one-day official convention business, including the nominations of Trump and Pence.
After the formal business of the convention in Charlotte concluded, the convention moved to Washington, D.C.. Further convention programming (including speeches and entertainment) was conducted in the nation's capital city, as well as several remote locations outside of D.C. In D.C., production for four nights of prime time convention programming was anchored at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., where most speeches were filmed. However, various components of the convention were filmed elsewhere, including at locations outside of Washington, D.C.
Most speeches were pre-taped.
At events with in-person audiences, such as First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's speeches, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended practices of protective masks and social distancing were largely absent.
Nomination votes The votes on re-nomination took place during the August 24 morning session in Charlotte.