NASHVILLE, Tennessee — (WSMV) - President Trump tweeted Tuesday night the Republican National Convention is not going to North Carolina on the same day that the governor of Tennessee said Republicans would be touring Nashville as a possible site for the convention.
Donald Trump said Republicans have been "forced to seek another State [sic] to host the 2020 Republican National Convention."
Tennessee's Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden told News4 that members of the Republican National Committee would be visiting Nashville this week to survey the city as a possible host to the Republican National Convention in August.
"Nashville is the best city in America to hold a convention, and hosting the Republican National Convention in Nashville would certainly help accelerate the economic recovery for local businesses. We welcome their interest and would be happy to host the convention in Tennessee," said Lee's spokesman Gillum Ferguson.
News 4 also reached out to the Nashville Mayor's Office.
"Of course, we’re not surprised that any national convention would look at us. And we do look forward to seeing our tourism and convention economy thrive again. We have no plans to use our limited public funds to recruit this convention at this time. We’re very excited about having the ability to help Belmont host the presidential debate this October," said Chris Song, Press Secretary for Mayor John Cooper.
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn is all for the idea. She tweeted on Tuesday that "there's no place like Music City!"
But not everyone is thrilled.
Metro Council member Colby Sledge (District 17) says he's requested a resolution calling on Mayor Cooper to withdraw Nashville from consideration for the convention.
Organizers of the Republican National Convention said Tuesday they will begin visiting potential alternative sites after North Carolina's governor told them the COVID-19 pandemic requires them to prepare for a scaled-back event if they want to hold it in Charlotte.
In a letter to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Convention President/CEO Marcia Lee Kelly, the Democratic governor said that he would like to continue the conversation with organizers, but unless they offer up a much different plan, the chances of Charlotte, North Carolina, being able to host the event is "very unlikely".
"The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity," Cooper wrote. "We are happy to continue talking with you about what a scaled down convention would look like and we still await your proposed plan for that."
Cooper's response comes as Republicans move ahead with their threat to pull the party's national convention from North Carolina.
Officials from the Republican National Committee are considering Nashville, Las Vegas, Orlando, Jacksonville and venues in Georgia to host their August convention if they fail to reach a deal with officials in North Carolina, according to media reports.
The contingency planning is to the point where party officials plan to travel to Nashville later this week to scout possible venues, the sources said, and may travel to other sites in the near future. Both Nashville and Las Vegas were prospective host cities before Republicans officially picked Charlotte.
Prior to Cooper's response, Michael Ahrens, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, "As we have said all along, we are committed to holding our convention in Charlotte, but we are still waiting for Governor Cooper to confirm that the convention we originally contracted can still be held there."
The planned trips, which were first reported by Politico, are a clear attempt by Republicans to show they are serious about pulling out of the Charlotte convention.
The Republican National Committee, in a letter from chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, set a Wednesday deadline for Cooper and officials from North Carolina to decide what kind of convention they will allow in the state this summer.
Trump, over the last two weeks, has started to target Cooper over the convention drama, a strategy that Republicans have said looks to turn the Democratic governor into a scapegoat should the convention not be able to go off as planned due to coronavirus.
Despite the pressure, Cooper, who is up for reelection in November, has not moved from his position that the state of the pandemic will dictate whether Republicans are able to fully gather in Charlotte.