Renomination of Trump to be held in private, GOP convention closed to press

The vote to renominate President Donald Trump is set to be conducted in private later this month. This means the dramatically scaled-down Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be closed to the press.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Convention cited the coronavirus as the reason.

Reporters will not be allowed on site as RNC delegates vote to formally nominate President Donald Trump as the 2020 Republican presidential nominee, but the vote will be livestreamed, the Republican official said.

Trump had earlier called off public components of the convention in Florida last month, citing spiking cases of the coronavirus across the country.

As many as 336 delegates are scheduled to gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 24 to formally vote to make Trump the GOP standard-bearer once more.

Some GOP delegations have raised logistical issues with travelling to either city, citing the increasing number of jurisdictions imposing mandatory quarantine orders on travellers returning from states experiencing surges in the virus.

The subset of delegates in Charlotte will be casting proxy votes on behalf of the more than 2,500 official delegates to the convention. Alternate delegates and guests have already been prohibited.

The proceedings on the Monday of the convention -- including the vote to formally nominate Trump -- will be live-streamed, according to a Republican official familiar with the plans.

It's being said if Trump goes to Charlotte, the expectation is that it will just be to thank the delegates in a private, closed press event.