Journalists to Be Barred from Attending Trump’s Renomination at GOP Convention

The Republican National Committee is planning on barring the press from attending President Donald Trump’s renomination in Charlotte, North Carolina later this month, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A spokesperson for the RNC told the paper that they are “planning for all of the Charlotte activities to be closed press” due to state and local attendance guidelines. This would mark the first GOP convention without reporters attending.

The number of delegates has also been drastically cut, from 2,550 to 336, due to coronavirus concerns.

The party’s convention was initially planned for North Carolina, then Jacksonville, Florida, until Trump called it off last week after local pushback. There remains plenty of logistics to be settled, for instance whether C-SPAN will receive press credentials to broadcast the event.

“There are a lot more questions than there are answers right now with regards to Charlotte,” C-SPAN’s political editor Steve Scully said. “I think that the [Republican National Committee] has been scrambling to try to figure out what they’re going to be doing.”

William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt is a writer and editor from New Hampshire whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, Slate and Areo Magazine, among other places. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from Boston University.