‘We’ll see,’ Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles says on whether city will host 2020 RNC in August 

“We’ll see,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said Friday when asked if the city — given coronavirus public health challenges — can still host the Republican National Convention later this year.

“We are proceeding in that direction (of hosting),” Lyles said, adding that the answer largely depends on the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic. Lyles’ comments came during a live Twitter town hall Friday morning.

The 2020 RNC is planned Aug. 24 to 27. It’s too soon, Lyles said, to know exactly how the coronavirus impacts Charlotte’s ability to host.

“I don’t know the answer to that now. I don’t know whether or not we will have the ability to do this if this pandemic continues .... We’ll see.”

But President Donald Trump has insisted there’s “no way” he would cancel the convention. Trump told Fox TV host Sean Hannity last Friday the RNC would be “incredible” and GOP organizers were “going to be in great shape.”

The president’s adamant stance on holding the RNC came just days after the Republican National Committee announced it was “firmly committed” to moving forward with the convention, according to a letter from state GOP Chairman Michael Whatley.

Though Charlotte is still contractually obligated to host the RNC — an event expected to draw approximately 50,000 people from across the country and the world — Lyles said “everything hinges” on the safety and well-being of the local community.

”We will operate under the rules that the CDC and all of the other federal and state agencies provide at that time,” Lyles said in a video response on Twitter. “I’m hopeful that just for all of us, that we’ll be out of this particularly difficult time by the summer or the fall.”

This is a developing story. Check back for more.

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 11:28 AM with the headline "‘We’ll see,’ Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles says on whether city will host 2020 RNC in August ."