Former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden won’t travel to Milwaukee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, organizers announced Wednesday.
“After ongoing consultation with public health officials and experts — who underscored the worsening coronavirus pandemic — the Democratic National Convention Committee announced today speakers for the 2020 Democratic National Convention will no longer travel to Milwaukee,“ a statement said. “Wisconsin in order to prevent risking the health of our host community as well as the convention’s production teams, security officials, community partners, media and others necessary to orchestrate the event.”
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the DNC will be mostly virtual and Biden will accept the Democratic nomination from his home in Delaware.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. “We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.”
The 2020 Democratic National Convention is scheduled to run from Aug. 17 to Aug. 20.
The 2020 Republican National Convention will begin a week later on Aug. 24 and is similarly being disrupted by Covid-19 concerns. President Donald Trump was previously expected to speak at the RNC in Charlotte, North Carolina, then Jacksonville, Florida.
Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that he’s considering accepting the GOP nomination from the White House South Lawn, raising questions about the Hatch Act.
“We’re thinking about it,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” “It would be the easiest from the standpoint of security.”
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using government property for political purposes, but the president is exempt from those restrictions. The Guardian points out any other government employees involved in the event could be considering in violating of the rule.
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