This month’s Republican National Convention will take place behind closed doors and with no press present, reports suggest. The move is the latest in a series of twists and changes to the convention.
Originally slated to take place in Jacksonville, Florida, the Republican National Convention was canceled last month due to a rise in coronavirus cases. Beforehand, it had been moved there from Charlotte due to virus restrictions applied by North Carolina Governor Ray Cooper, a Democrat. After canvassing a number of other cities as potential hosts, the GOP has fallen back on Charlotte, albeit for a convention without some of the fanfare that President Donald Trump is known for.
Only around 300 delegates will attend, and the event will be closed to the press, a party spokesperson told multiple media outlets on Saturday. When delegates cast their votes to formally nominate Trump for election, they will live-stream the proceedings, CNN reported.
Furthermore, it is unclear whether Trump himself will travel to Charlotte to accept the nomination. The president has said that he will speak on the convention’s final day – August 27, but has not yet said whether he will actually speak from Charlotte.
Party conventions are usually lavish affairs, and media circuses. The restricted gathering this year is unprecedented, yet Democrats too have been forced to modify their convention on account of the coronavirus. The Democrats’ four-day gathering will be a mostly virtual event, with candidate Joe Biden likely the only big-name speech. The convention was originally planned for July, but was pushed back to August as Covid-19 infections and deaths spiked in April.
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