Biden, other Democrats won't go to Milwaukee for national convention

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee for the Democratic National Convention this month to deliver his acceptance speech due to concerns about COVID-19, party officials said Wednesday.

Instead, Biden and all the other scheduled speakers at the Aug. 17-20 convention will make their remarks remotely, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement.

The party said the changes were made "to prevent risking the health of our host community as well as the convention's production teams, security officials, community partners, media and others necessary to orchestrate the event."

Biden will accept the Democratic nomination from his home state of Delaware, the party noted.

"From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first," said DNC Chair Tom Perez. "We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives."

Biden's campaign team indicated last week when the convention's schedule was announced that the former vice president was planning to travel to Milwaukee.

Wednesday's change was met with disappointment by local convention organizers, who'd once hoped 50,000 attendees would pack the city's hotels, bars and restaurants for four days.

"While we wish we could move forward with welcoming the world to beautiful Milwaukee in two weeks, we recognize protecting the health of our host community and everyone involved with this convention must be paramount," said convention CEO Joe Solmonese.