Florida vying to host GOP national convention

ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida’s Republican Gov.Ron DeSantis is again urging President Donald Trump to hold the Republican National Convention in the Sunshine State. The president recently took to Twitter declaring that the GOP convention will *not* happen in Charlotte, NC, as originally planned.

The president stated in a tweet that "We are now forced to seek another state to host the 2020 republican national convention." Governor DeSantis said North Carolina's loss could be Florida’s gain, particularly central Florida’s.

“We would like to have it,” DeSantis said, “obviously Orlando, just because of the hotel capacity, the arena would be an obvious place.”

President Trump stated that Charlotte's coronavirus restrictions were keeping the convention from happening there. DeSantis said he'd take a different approach.

“I've talked with folks at the RNC,” he said, “we could potentially - we'll see what the prevalence is of the virus - we have mitigation measures, you had masks, you can do all those things.”

In a statement, the City of Orlando stated, "We don’t have any information on a City of Orlando venue being considered for the Republican National Convention."

Orange County said, "The Orange County Convention Center has not received any requests to host the RNC. Additionally, the RNC has not asked for a site visit or requested to host an event at the Orange County Convention Center."

Despite this, Rep. Michael Waltz, a Republican who represents parts of Volusia and Flagler Counties, said it would be a great idea.

“With so many conventions, international tourism, and other things cancelled or postponed,” he said, “I think getting that business here would be really fantastic for central or northeast Florida.”

So far, Georgia and Texas are other states competing to host the RNC.