The GOP's plans for its national convention have been chaotic to say the least.
Originally slated for Charlotte, North Carolina, President Donald Trump moved most in-person events—including his speech officially accepting the Republican presidential nomination—to Jacksonville, Florida after local leaders in North Carolina wouldn't scale back safety measures in the face of the pandemic.
By the end of July, the President canceled in-person events in Jacksonville as well, opting instead for a digital presentation.
That left the question of where Trump would deliver his acceptance speech, and according to a Monday tweet, the President has narrowed it down to two options: the White House lawn or Gettysburg.
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. We will announce the decision soon!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Rumors had already been churning that the President was eyeing the White House lawn for the speech. Ethics experts were flummoxed at how members of Trump's staff would avoid violating the Hatch Act, which forbids Executive Branch employees from using their positions in government to campaign.
Notably, the President and Vice President are excepted from the Hatch Act.
Using Gettysburg—the battlefield where over three thousand soldiers lost their lives in the Civil War—also raised eyebrows, since the site is still federal grounds.
Some found Gettysburg to be an interesting choice for all the wrong reasons.
Gettysburg would be quite the choice, given the president's recent defense of generals from the side that lost that battle https://t.co/vKbzGaCnrU
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 10, 2020
but gettysburg is the site of one of your base's greatest defeats https://t.co/cqYmqvHt5b
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) August 10, 2020
The most obvious Confederate sympathizer to sit in the White House since John Tyler is proposing to accept his party's nomination atop the graves of men who fought and died to defeat the treasonous bastards whom his most fervent fans so revere. https://t.co/ZV8NhhzOsC
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 10, 2020
Gettysburg? Will he be wearing gray and waving the confederate flag, defending his position that US bases should honor traitors? pic.twitter.com/Rtv7yi2d5R
— VoteVets (@votevets) August 10, 2020
Who's gonna tell him his team lost at Gettysburg? https://t.co/csGpA4GTs9
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) August 10, 2020
Someone should tell him what happened the last time the confederacy went to Gettysburg. https://t.co/SmmlLvFlSF
— Teachers for Biden 🍎 (@edJOEcators) August 10, 2020
The Confederacy already got its ass beat at Gettysburg—you're not welcome back. https://t.co/iEkjPldSHt
— Dylan (@dyllyp) August 10, 2020
The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the Confederacy's most damning defeats. Trump has been a vocal opponent of calls to remove statues and memorials glorifying the Confederacy and slavery.
The site is also where Abraham Lincoln gave his famed Gettysburg Address. Trump has said that he's arguably done even more for Black Americans than Lincoln himself, who was a key figure in abolishing slavery.
People cringed to imagine what Trump's so-called Gettysburg Address would entail.
It's a sad commentary on this president that he'll be horribly out of place at Gettysburg––even if he's just there to mourn the defeat of the Confederacy––or next to the Liberty Bell, but entirely in his element while grifting from his Washington hotel if that's what he chooses. https://t.co/werSlsoY9q
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) August 3, 2020
Gettysburg painfully fitting: 165,000 deaths from COVID is .0005% of our pop. 18,000 dead and presumed dead at Gettysburg also .0005% of pop. then. But can we ever really forget what he did here.
— Wendy R. Sherman (@wendyrsherman) August 10, 2020
At last, a Gettysburg Address the world will genuinely little note, nor long remember.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 10, 2020
The last time Trump delivered a speech in Gettysburg was a little more than a week before the 2016 election, where he infamously defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
