CHARLOTTE, N.C. Republican Party leaders scoping out locations to renominate Donald Trump for president next year have arrived in a city that has labeled his statements racist and that almost wishes it had never invited them in the first place.

This is one of the ugliest moments of political discourse, said Braxton Winston, a Charlotte City Council member who was on the losing side of last summers 6-5 vote to approve a contract to host the 2020 Republican convention. This is specifically about the racism of this administration and the elements that that brings. I wish we were not bringing that here.

Last week, the council went so far as to discuss the possibility of backing out of the agreement, but ultimately decided against it after the city attorney said trying to do so would incur big legal bills and would almost certainly end with a judge requiring the city to host Trumps convention, anyway.

Currently, we have no option to pull out, said Dimple Ajmera, another city council member who opposed hosting the convention but now agrees the city is stuck with it.