On Saturday, a Republican official stated that the press will not be allowed to attend the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“[W]e are planning for all of the Charlotte activities to be closed press: Friday, August 21 – Monday, 24th given the health restrictions and limitations in place in the state,” the Republican official said.
“We are happy to let you know if this changes, but we are working within the parameters set before us by state and local guidelines regarding the number of people who can attend events.”
The August 24 proceedings in which RNC delegates will vote for President Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the upcoming 2020 election will be livestreamed.
The RNC official further said that if Trump goes to Charlotte to accept the nomination, he will formally thank the RNC delegates in a small-scale private event instead of making a public speech.
This is the first time in modern history that reporters have been restricted from covering the event in person. However, Republican officials stated that the change was necessitated by COVID-19 social distancing protocols.
Many changes have been made to the convention due to the pandemic.
The final three days of the convention were first shifted from Charlotte to Jacksonville, Florida after North Carolina refused to lift COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings.
However, Trump canceled the Jacksonville portion of the event late last month due to the spike of COVID-19 cases in Florida.
Instead, Trump said that the convention would again be held in Charlotte, but that now it would be significantly scaled-back.
The number of delegates allowed to attend the presidential nomination celebration in Jacksonville had already been reduced to 2,500 on the first three days and 6,000-7,000 on the last day, which was open for attendance to alternate delegates.
Now, only 336 delegates will attend the event and nominate Trump during the convention. Alternate delegates are not being allowed to attend.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention will be held from August 17 to August 20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with as few as 300 people in attendance. Reporters will be allowed to attend the Democratic convention.
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