The GOP and North Carolina are playing a bit of chicken over the 2020 convention. Simply, the GOP wants to be able to hold their convention as they see fit, with whatever health guidelines they want and don’t want. Given the COVID situation, North Carolina is unable to give those assurances at this time. But time is running out on the GOP’s ability to move the convention:

Republicans planning their party’s convention traded demands with North Carolina’s Democratic governor this week over holding the event in Charlotte in August, as President Trump pressures Democratic leaders in the state to allow him to host the kind of convention he wants despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, and the president of the convention committee, Marcia Lee Kelly, wrote to Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday, giving him a deadline of June 3 to approve safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus during the event.

On Friday, Mr. Cooper’s administration shot back with a letter of its own, asking Ms. McDaniel and Ms. Kelly to detail the R.N.C.’s plans to protect convention participants, and to specify whether the president was still set on holding a large-scale nominating event where attendees in the crowd would not wear face masks. – NY Times

And then on Friday, Trump and Gov. Cooper talked, and Trump made clear what he wanted:

“When the President insisted on a full convention arena with no face coverings and no social distancing the Governor expressed concerns and suggested a scaled back event with fewer attendees,” said Cooper’s spokeswoman, Sadie Weiner. “They agreed to continue talking about ways to have a safe convention in Charlotte.”

The GOP has set a June 3 deadline for North Carolina to approve the GOP plans. That’s not going to happen, so we will watch to see what the GOP does on Thursday.