Joe Biden has nixed plans to travel to Milwaukee to accept the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Biden, the two-term vice president and 36-year United States senator, was expected to be crowned his party’s 2020 standard-bearer in Milwaukee, along with his yet-to-be-revealed running mate. But the Democratic National Convention Committee and his campaign altered their arrangements as Wisconsin and other Midwestern states experience a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Instead, Biden will address Democrats from his home state of Delaware after consulting with public health officials and experts, the DNCC said in a statement. Other speakers who were set to make addresses will also not visit Milwaukee.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first. We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said.
The convention will still entail four nights of pre-recorded and live programming, which will air from locations around the country from Aug. 17 to Aug. 20 between 9 and 11 p.m. ET. That will include digital press briefings and interviews.
Biden’s announcement coincides with President Trump teasing Wednesday morning that he may be coronated on the White House’s South Lawn.
“It’s the easiest alternative,” Trump told Fox & Friends. “I’ll probably do mine live from the White House.”
The White House is “the least expensive from the country’s standpoint,” the president added.
The coronavirus pandemic has upended both the 2020 Democratic and Republican conventions.
Democrats delayed their gathering by a month, scheduling a mostly virtual event “anchored” from the must-win state of Wisconsin.
The GOP yanked its convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, save for party business meetings, in favor of holding the festivities in Jacksonville, Florida. But the events pegged for Florida were scrapped with spikes in COVID-19 cases reported across the state.
