Florida Governor Open To Hosting Republican Convention

MIAMI, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in on President Donald Trump's twitter feud with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, offering Tuesday to host the Republican National Convention in the Sunshine State if North Carolina is unable — or unwilling — to meet the president's demands.

"In terms of the RNC, Florida would love to have the RNC," DeSantis shared with reporters in Miami. "Heck, I'm a Republican. It would be good to have the DNC in terms of the economic impact when you talk about major events like that."

President Trump threatened to pull the convention from the Tar Heel State in a series of Memorial Day tweets directed at the states's Democrat governor.

DeSantis said has not spoken with the president about moving the convention to Florida but he has let the president's staff know "the door is open" and Florida would be willing to step in.

"His government will be talking about the safety restrictions," DeSantis said, referring to the Trump administration role in defining the national coronavirus safeguards. "If he's going to do a convention, obviously he's going to want to abide by whatever they're saying."

DeSantis said a lot of the work in terms of raising funds for the convention has already been completed. "It would kind of be a plug and play thing," DeSantis said.

In addition to Florida, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sent an open plea to Trump on Tuesday to consider The Peach State, according to the Associated Press.

President Trump demanded Cooper guarantee Republicans will be able to fully occupy the arena where the convention is scheduled to take place in August.

"If not, we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site," the president threatened. "This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina!"

Vice President Mike Pence also weighed in Tuesday telling "Fox & Friends" it's important to know whether North Carolina can meet the requirements.

"We all want to be in Charlotte. We love North Carolina," Pence said. "But having a sense now is absolutely essential because of the immense preparations that are involved."

Cooper insisted his decision-making was not dictated by politics. "This is not emotional. This is based upon health experts," he said.

DeSantis pointed to Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando or Tampa as possible replacement venues for Charlotte, which hosted the 2012 Democrat National Convention.

Tampa hosted the 2012 Republican National Convention. The 2016 Republican National Convention was in Cleveland, while the Democrats met in Philadelphia.

"My posture on all of this is we should try to get it done in accordance with whatever safety requirements," DeSantis said. "We obviously have a number of areas in our state that could do it. Obviously Miami could do it. Orlando could do it. Tampa could do it. Jacksonville could do it. You may even have some other places that could do it. I think it's just a matter of whether they want to do it."