Senior Republican senator Chuck Grassley, 86, says he will NOT go to party's convention because of coronavirus - raising speculation more will join stay-away
- Senior Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said he won't be attending the party's nominating convention for President Donald Trump this August
- Grassley, 86, said the coronavirus was the reason
- He is the first Republican member of Congress to say he won't go
- 'I'm not going to go. And I'm not going to go because of the virus situation,' he told reporters in his home state of Iowa
- It will be the first Republican National Convention he has missed in 40 years
- Coronavirus cases in Florida are on the rise
- In two weeks, the number of total infections there has doubled from 100,000 to more than 200,000 as of Sunday
Senior Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said he won't be attending the party's nominating convention for President Donald Trump this August and he cited the coronavirus as the reason.
Grassley, 86, told reporters from his home state of Iowa on a conference call Monday that he wouldn't attend, prompting speculation some other lawmakers and party elders could follow his example.
'I'm not going to go. And I'm not going to go because of the virus situation,' he said, according to the Des Moines Register.
He is the first Republican member of Congress to announce he will not attend the August gathering.
Senior Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said he won't be attending the party's nominating convention for President Donald Trump this August because of coronavirus
Senator Grassley has attended every Republican convention since he was elected to the Senate in 1980 including the 2016 one (above) in Cleveland where Donald Trump accepted the party's presidential nomination
Senator Grassley is the first Republican member of Congress to announce he won't go to Jacksonville, Fla., to see President Trump accept the party's nomination as he did above in 2016
He noted this will be the first Republican National Convention he has missed in 40 years, since he was first elected to the Senate in 1940.
Grassley is the senior most Republican senator and serves as Senate President Pro Temp, which puts him in the line of succession behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He is the second oldest senator in the Senate. Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, 87, is the oldest.
He is in excellent physical health, running three miles a day, four days a week.
President Trump will accept the Republican nomination for a second term in for in Jacksonville, Florida. The convention is scheduled for Aug. 24-27.
The party moved the main part of the convention to Florida after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, could not guarantee the large crowd the president wanted in the original location of Charlotte.
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Grassley said the change in location made sense and he urged those attending the event to wear a mask and practice social distancing.
'Going to a place where the governor feels that it's safer is probably the right thing to do if you want to have a convention,' he said. 'And I think we should have a convention, but I think you should do whatever you can to make it as safe as possible so that would mean with face masks and with social distancing.'
Florida is further along in the opening process but has had to walk some steps back after coronavirus cases in the state spiked.
Florida has the steepest and most alarming rise in cases in the United States.
In two weeks, the number of total infections there has doubled from 100,000 to more than 200,000 as of Sunday.
One group of state lawmakers is urging Republican Governor Rick DeSantis to make face masks in public mandatory. The Florida Department of Health currently recommends wearing face masks and avoiding crowds.
The state's beaches remained largely open, per DeSantis's announcement that he would not issue sweeping shutdowns and that Florida was 'not going back.'
Several South Florida counties closed their beaches any way, including Miami-Dade. Other beaches were less crowded than expected for a typical holiday over the Fourth of July weekend, but certainly still drew plenty of revelers.
Some Florida beaches and piers required temperature checks and mask wearing at their entrances.
Florida set yet another record high number of daily infections on Saturday (right) but, curiously, corresponding increases in the number of deaths have not yet emerged, even though cases have been rising steadily for more than two weeks
Cars are seen as the drivers wait to be tested for COVID-19 at a testing sight in Miami Gardens, Florida
As of Monday, Miami closed its restaurants and gyms too, in an effort to stop the wildfire spread of coronavirus in the city.
DeSantis said at a press briefing on Monday that the average of a person testing positive for the virus was 21. He argued that meant there would be lower death rates from the disease.
He also said he would not issue a statewide mandate to wear a mask or shut down popular tourist attractions like Disney World.
'I think that where you start to see the spread is in social situations where people let their guard down,' DeSantis said. 'Usually at like a private party or something like that.'
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