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Coronavirus: Media to be barred from Trump election nomination US election: Republicans dampen reports of convention media ban
(about 13 hours later)
The US Republican Party's vote to nominate its presidential candidate this month will be held in private, without press in attendance. The US Republican Party has distanced itself from reports that this month's party convention - which will formally re-nominate President Donald Trump - will be closed to the press.
A Republican National Convention spokeswoman gave coronavirus health guidelines as the reason, the Associated Press reports. On Saturday the AP news agency and other news outlets reported that, because of the coronavirus, media would not be allowed to attend the event.
Delegates are due to gather in North Carolina to formally renominate President Donald Trump. But on Sunday, a convention official said no final decisions had been made.
The 336 delegates will meet on 24 August in the city of Charlotte. The delegates will meet in late August in North Carolina.
They will cast proxy votes for some 2,500 official delegates. Mr Trump is the party's sole remaining nominee, and his renomination will officially launch his re-election bid. Last month President Trump scrapped a Florida convention, blaming the coronavirus "flare-up", and announced a scaled-down event in the city of Charlotte.
The party was "working within the parameters set before us by state and local guidelines regarding the number of people who can attend events", the spokeswoman said. The Republican National Convention (RNC) will be attended by 336 delegates, who will cast proxy votes for some 2,500 official delegates.
The decision marks a significant change for the convention, which historically has worked to draw media attention to spread party messaging to the public. Mr Trump is the party's sole remaining nominee, and his re-nomination will officially launch his re-election bid.
Mr Trump had switched the location of the convention to Jacksonville, Florida, after the Democratic governor of North Carolina insisted in May on limiting the crowd size at the convention, on the grounds of social distancing. On Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) quoted a convention spokeswoman as saying: "Given the health restrictions and limitations in place within the state of North Carolina, we are planning for the Charlotte activities to be closed press Friday, August 21 - Monday, August 24."
But Mr Trump later scrapped the Florida convention, blaming the state's coronavirus "flare-up". CNN quoted a Republican official as saying: "Reporters will not be allowed on site as RNC delegates vote to formally nominate President Donald Trump as the 2020 Republican presidential nominee."
But on Sunday an RNC official told CBS News: "No final decisions have been made and we are still working through logistics and press coverage options."
In a tweet, the New York Times White House correspondent said journalists would be banned from the early part of the convention, but may still be able to cover the main event, between 24 and 27 June.