Trump delivers remarks on COVID-19, other topics
President Donald Trump will deliver remarks from the White House Wednesday, covering the coronavirus pandemic across the United States and other national and world developments.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump said he will probably deliver his Republican convention acceptance speech from the White House now that plans to hold the event in two battleground states have been foiled by coronavirus concerns and restrictions.
Such a move would mark an unprecedented use of public property for partisan political purposes, and congressional leaders in both parties publicly doubted Trump could go ahead with the plan. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said flatly that he “can’t do that.”
The Republican National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 24-27. Trump is to be formally nominated on Aug. 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina. But the venue for his speech accepting the nomination has been up in the air.
Also Wednesday, Trump lauded Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey at the White House, as he pointed to the state as a model for the nation for handling “embers” of the coronavirus.
The state, like much of the Sun Belt region, began experiencing a severe spike in COVID-19 cases after Memorial Day, as aggressive reopening plans coincided with an increase in travel. Trump sought to highlight the surge in government resources and personnel to the state once federal officials observed an uptick in Arizona’s test positivity rate — a critical early warning sign of spreading infection.
