Democrats delay presidential convention until August

Democrats delay presidential convention until August, citing coronavirus
Jason Lange
APRIL 2, 2020 / 6:04 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic Party on Thursday postponed its U.S. presidential nominating convention by a month until August, citing the coronavirus health crisis that has upended daily life and caused many states to postpone their primaries.

Democrats will use the convention in Milwaukee - now scheduled for the week of Aug. 17 - to formally pick their nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November election. It had previously been scheduled for July.

The pandemic already has forced Democratic front-runner Joe Biden and rival Bernie Sanders off the campaign trail, and more than a dozen states have delayed their nominating contests due to worries about public health risks.

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds,” said Joe Solmonese, chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee.

The convention will be held in Wisconsin, a state that Trump narrowly won in 2016 and which is seen as a key battleground state for the 2020 presidential contest.

Biden on Wednesday called for delaying the convention, speaking in a television interview from what he called a “makeshift studio” in the recreation room of his Wilmington, Delaware, home.

Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama, currently leads the Democratic nominating contest against Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont.

White House medical experts have forecast that even if Americans hunker down in their homes to slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, some 100,000 to 240,000 people could die from the disease.

Already, some 5,340 Americans have died and over 225,510 cases have been confirmed, according to a Reuters tally.

The Republican Party had already planned to hold their nominating convention in August, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Republican National Committee spokesman Rick Gorka said the party was making sure state party organizations had the resources needed for their nomination contests, which are seen as a formality given widespread support in the party for Trump.

“We are fully committed to holding the Republican convention in Charlotte as planned and re-nominating President Trump,” Gorka said

APRIL 5, 2020 / 8:58 AM / UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO
Biden says coronavirus may force Democrats to hold 'virtual' presidential convention

(Reuters) - Former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on Sunday the party may be forced to host a “virtual” nominating convention in August due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic Party already postponed its convention from July to August last week, citing worries over the outbreak that has prompted a majority of U.S. states to order their residents to stay at home to contain the disease’s spread.

“We may have to do a virtual convention,” Biden said on ABC’s “This Week” program. “I think we should be thinking about that right now ... We may not be able to put 10, 20, 30,000 people in one place.”

Biden and rival Senator Bernie Sanders have been forced off the campaign trail, and more than a dozen states have postponed their primary elections. Wisconsin, however, plans to hold in-person voting on Tuesday despite calls for a delay.

After a series of victories in March, Biden has opened up a commanding lead in the number of delegates needed to secure the party’s nomination to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November’s general election.

Though Biden is not holding in-person campaign events, he said he would follow new federal guidelines calling for people to cover their faces in public. Trump announced the revised recommendation on Friday but said he personally did not plan on wearing a mask.

“Listen to the experts,” Biden said. “Do what they tell you. He may not like how he looks in a mask, but the truth of the matter is that – follow the science, that’s what they’re telling us.”

Biden again questioned Trump’s handling of the crisis.

“He’s moving too slow,” Biden said. “The virus is not his fault, but the response is his responsibility.”

Trump has faced criticism for initially downplaying the threat from the coronavirus. Several governors have clashed with his administration over a lack of medical supplies, including ventilators.

The president has defended his response to the outbreak and suggested some governors are exaggerating the number of ventilators they need.

Biden also said he had called Sanders as a courtesy to let him know he was starting to vet potential vice presidential candidates, even though the Democratic race is not over, to ensure Biden’s campaign has time to complete the necessary background checks.

“I was basically apologizing and making it clear that I wasn’t trying to be presumptuous, in any way push him,” Biden said. “And he said he appreciated that.”