ORLANDO, Fla. — CPAC was supposed to be headlined Saturday by remarks from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, but the Florida Republican was removed from the agenda at the last minute, an official with the conference confirmed.
The senator tweeted later that he to cancel his talk at the Orlando convention of conservatives because of “an unexpected family issue.”
“I was really looking forward to it,” Rubio said in a tweet. “But as I told (CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp) they should move CPAC to Florida permanently.”
Rubio wasn’t added to the speakers’ list until Friday. He has gone out of his way to stay in ex-President Donald Trump’s good graces since their presidential primary battle in 2016 but until recently had been facing a possible primary challenge by Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who is moving to Miami. Last week, the New York Times reported that Ivana Trump told Rubio she would not run.
His appearance was scheduled a day prior to remarks from Trump, in what will be his first speech since he left office.
Attendance Saturday morning was sparse, though attendees appeared to mostly comply with facial covering requirements.
Early speakers praised Trump’s policies as the way forward for Republicans.
“The doctrine of ‘America First’ is here to stay,” said Ric Grennell, a former Trump-appointed ambassador to Germany, who later served as the Acting Director of National Intelligence in his Cabinet.
The event marks a brief shot-in-the-arm for hotels, bars and restaurants on International Drive, a prepandemic hub of activity for business travelers where businesses thrived off meetings at the Orange County Convention Center and other nearby hotels such as the Hyatt Regency Orlando, home to CPAC this year.
County officials estimated a $2.9 million economic impact from CPAC, based on about 5,400 room nights booked, said spokeswoman Despina McLaughlin.
The convention shifted from Maryland to Florida this year, a trend among conventions and meetings.
Mayor Jerry Demings said he’d been assured event planners would comply with his executive order requiring face coverings, and that the region is expecting to benefit from other conventions, shows and meetings relocating to Central Florida or rebooking from previous cancellations.
“We have a number of events and shows that have booked here, some relocating from other jurisdictions because they perceive that it’s safe to do so,” he said last week. “They’re monitoring our low positivity rates and our available room occupancies, and they’re moving here.”
Business travel was among the first blows to the county’s tourism economy when the pandemic struck nearly a year ago. In all more than 70 conventions were canceled and 53 were rescheduled at the Orange County Convention Center, and the region’s Tourist Development Tax, a 6% levy of short-term rental and hotel room nights, is at historic lows.
On Friday, CPAC featured a who’s who of Republican leaders, including a brief speech from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called the state “an oasis of freedom” from coronavirus restrictions.
DeSantis has resisted any state mandates to stop the spread of COVID-19 since the summertime, despite more than 30,600 deaths and 1.9 million cases in the state.
Several attendees clashed with CPAC leaders who tried to enforce a local mandate on mask-wearing. At least one person was ordered to leave because of his refusal to wear a face covering, and many in the crowd either took off their masks or wore them improperly.
But county officials said an enforcement “strike team” that visited the convention Friday found “every effort [was] being made” to enforce mask policies.
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