CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- RNC site selection committee chairman Ron Kaufman says he fell in love with the Charlotte over the past few months, and now, he's looking forward to hosting the 2020 convention in the Queen City.

• RNC site selection committee chair Ron Kaufman spoke during a social media chat with council member Tariq Bokhari.
• Kaufman says the RNC had reached out to 30 cities.
• The chair says he loves Charlotte's diversity. 

“Now that we know we're going to a city, Charlotte, we now have two years to do some interesting things that haven’t been done before,” said Kaufman.

During a social media chat with Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari Thursday evening, Kaufman talked about the bidding process.

He says the RNC reached out to 30 cities, visited seven and eventually narrowed it down to Charlotte and Las Vegas.

 “You don’t get points for having a lot of bids, you get points for having a good bid so my job is make sure cities end through the whole process had really good and there were a lot of cities that wanted the bid and just didn't have the hotel rooms,” he continued.

Kaufman says he also loved Charlotte's diversity, something he saw Monday night when he watched city council's debate and public hearing about the bid. He says freedom of speech will be respected and protected, commenting,  “Yes, there will people who probably aren't quite happy with the Republican Party as it is right now and they should express their rights, but people in Charlotte are going to want to have a good convention.”

Another big focus over the next two years is safety. Kaufman says he's impressed with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney's plans for security

“There's much thought and time and effort putting in to make sure that Charlotte will be the safest place in America that week,” he said. 

Once the bid approved, the RNC host committee will have to raise millions of dollars and recruit thousands of volunteers over the next two years.