Pelosi says Trump’s push for in-person convention is just an ego trip

“ “I don’t think there’s anyone who would say at this point that tens of thousands of people should come together for a political convention — no matter how great an ego trip it is for somebody, it’s dangerous for so many.” ”

— Rep. Nancy Pelosi

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday took a jab at President Donald Trump’s hopes to have an in-person Republican Party convention this summer, saying such a large gathering remains unsafe.

While not naming Trump specifically, Pelosi said decisions on allowable crowd gatherings should be left in the hands of local officials.

“The number of people who should be in church, the number of people who should be in any gathering, those are determinations that are made locally and I respect that as we unfold this opening,” she said at a U.S. Capitol press conference to tout coronavirus-testing legislation.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who would say, at this point, that tens of thousands of people should come together for a political convention — no matter how great an ego trip it is for somebody, it’s dangerous for so many.”

Trump has pushed the Democratic governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, to say whether Republicans can follow through with plans to hold their convention in August in Charlotte.

“In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Cooper responded: “I will say that it’s OK for political conventions to be political, but pandemic response cannot be.”

Despite saying local officials should have the responsibility to decide on gatherings, Pelosi said she did not feel bound to rescind a declaration of a 45-day health emergency for the Capitol that allows for the first time the use of floor voting by proxy for the House, even as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she plans to ease citywide pandemic restrictions on Friday.

“Our timing was predicated on the Sergeant at Arms giving us the signal that we could put this forward,” Pelosi said. Asked if her declaration would be affected by the city’s plans to ease up, Pelosi said, “Let’s hope and pray that they do and then we can cross that bridge, cross that threshold when we come to it.”