Presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee, Wisc., to accept his party’s nomination amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis, the Democratic National Committee confirmed Wednesday. No speakers will travel to the state to participate in the previously-scheduled Democratic National Convention.
“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, 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,” the DNC said.
Biden, the DNC said, will instead accept the nomination in a speech delivered from his home state of Delaware. Details on the speech’s location are forthcoming.
This is the latest disruption to the 2020 election cycle caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In July, President Donald Trump announced he was canceling a portion of the upcoming Republican National Convention in Jacksonville due to concerns about the spread of the virus in Florida. The incumbent candidate was expected to accept his party’s nomination at that time.
“The timing for this event is not right … with what’s happened recently, the flareup in Florida,” Trump said during a press conference at the time. “To have a big convention, it’s not the right time.”
A smaller group of delegates will still be gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 24, as previously scheduled.
In June, Trump pulled the convention from its original location in North Carolina, citing the state governor’s refusal to guarantee that the GOP could use an arena for the convention because of concerns about the virus. The RNC then announced it was moving most of its main convention events to Jacksonville, with Trump accepting the nomination in that city, while a handful of smaller events would still take place in Charlotte.
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