Trump supporters wave flags at the hundreds of boats idling on the St. Johns River during a rally June June 14 in Jacksonville, Fla. (Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
Photo: Will Dickey/Associated PressThis item first appeared in the Capital Journal newsletter. Read today’s full newsletter here or sign up here for daily updates in your inbox.
New coronavirus restrictions were announced in the Florida city selected as the fill-in site for most of the Republican National Convention, weeks after President Trump moved the event there from North Carolina hoping to avoid strict social-distancing precautions.
Jacksonville said Monday that the city would require masks at public and indoor locations “and in other situations where individuals cannot socially distance.” The announcement came as Florida is seeing a drastic rise in coronavirus, as are a number of Southern and Western states.
Mr. Trump has studiously avoided wearing a mask in public and has not urged Americans to embrace them, despite mounting calls to do so. Eager to move past the pandemic, Mr. Trump relocated the marquee events of the convention to Jacksonville from Charlotte, in the hopes of drawing a bigger crowd at the late August event.
Florida is also a key battleground state, with a Republican governor who is a close Trump ally.
An RNC spokesperson said party officials remain committed to a safe convention, noting that it is still two months away, and pledging to “offer health precautions including but not limited to temperature checks, available PPE, aggressive sanitizing protocols, and available COVID-19 testing.”
Asked if the president’s thinking on masks has evolved at all, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that “it’s his choice to wear a mask. It’s the personal choice of any individual as to whether to wear a mask or not.”
She added that the president “encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety, but he did say to me he has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you.”
Democrats are planning a scaled-back convention. Presumptive nominee Joe Biden will accept the presidential nomination in Milwaukee, but the party will urge delegates to skip the summer convention because of coronavirus concerns.
Write to Catherine Lucey at catherine.lucey@wsj.com
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