President Donald Trump says he is getting closer to choosing the venue for accepting his party’s nomination.
On Monday, Trump tweeted that he had narrowed down the potential venues for his speech to the Gettysburg battlefield or the White House.
“We have narrowed the Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, to be delivered on the final night of the Convention (Thursday), to two locations – The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the White House, Washington, D.C.,” he wrote.
He added, “We will announce the decision soon!”
His tweet did not go over well with some Twitter users:
.@POTUS – you are no Abe Lincoln so cross off doing your nominee acceptance speech at the Gettysburg battlefield. Besides which didn’t you dodge the draft?
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) August 10, 2020
Trump speaking at Gettysburg?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 10, 2020
The good news:
1. The prospect is more ludicrous than sickening.
2. The presumptuousness of the choice of location will backfire.
3. The world will little note, nor long remember what Trump says there. https://t.co/3tvwYyLYl6
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1292892481223307266
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1292875286384652291
https://twitter.com/robreiner/status/1292889731437432832
Trump’s comments come weeks after he announced that the Republican National Convention’s events in Jacksonville, Florida would be canceled due to the surge of COVID-19 in that state, as IJR reported.
He was slated to deliver his acceptance speech in Jacksonville, but since suggested that he may deliver his speech at the White House, as IJR reported.
“We’re thinking about doing it from the White House because there’s no movement, and it’s easy,” Trump said during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
He said that he would “probably” accept the nomination at the White House and suggested it would be the “least expensive from the country’s standpoint.”
Shortly after he tossed out that suggestion, social media users raised concerns that delivering a convention speech at the White House would violate the Hatch Act, which “prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while on duty, in a government room or building.”
While the president and vice president are not subject to the Hatch Act, others raised concerns that Trump would be ordering his subordinates to violate the law.
However, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows previously said he does not want Trump to deliver his speech at the White House.
In an interview on “Full Court Press” that aired on Sunday, Meadows said, “Those decisions are still in flux, but I can tell you what I’m advocating for is miles and miles away from here.”
