The Democratic National Committee made the decision Thursday to move their mid-July convention back to August after weeks of insisting that the show would go on despite a coronavirus pandemic.
CNN reports that the DNC made the decision sometime on Wednesday, after former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, suggested the DNC might want to consider a convention delay or, barring that, a digital or conference call option so that attendees could observe social distancing.
“The change represents a dramatic shift for the party, which has worked for months to host a convention in Milwaukee in mid-July. While officials began planning for contingencies in the face of the spreading coronavirus, many had remained hopeful that the virus would abate and allow Democrats to host the supremely important event,” CNN said.
The convention will now take place the weekend of August 17, just before the Republican National Convention, which is traditionally held the last weekend in August. The Democrats wanted their convention in July, so that they would be finished with their nomination process before the networks cut to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The Olympics have now been postponed until next year.
“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” the convention’s CEO said in a statement Thursday. “During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders.”
Biden expressed doubts about the convention on Wednesday night, during an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, telling the host that “I doubt whether the Democratic Convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July or early July. I think it’s gonna have to move into August.”
“We just have to be prepared for the alternative and the alternative, we don’t know what it’s going to be unless we have a better sense of whether this curve is going to move down or up,” Biden continued, echoing sentiments he first aired on Tuesday, that it was “hard to envision” a traditional convention in the time of coronavirus.
“There’s a sense of urgency that doesn’t seemed — only until yesterday at his press conference, the President start to grasp the reality of what he’s facing in terms of the number of potential deaths, the number of people who are going to contract the virus,” Biden told Fallon, using the convention as an excuse to hit out at President Donald Trump. “We got a lot, a lot to do, and we’re not getting it done.”
Biden may have had an ulterior motive for pressing the DNC on the convention. As states across the country observe strict lockdown measures to reduce and prevent the spread of coronavirus, many states have postponed their Democratic primaries, leaving Biden with little hope of securing the nomination by winning a clear majority of delegates before a July convention date. With an additional month now on the calendar, states can better schedule their primaries, giving Biden, once again, hope of grabbing 1,991 delegates before crossing the finish line.