Democrats open new kind of convention; President Trump hits campaign trail

Updated: Aug 17, 2020 / 03:03 PM CDT

FILE – In this Aug. 12, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., participate in a virtual grassroots fundraiser at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Del. The Democratic Party will convene Monday, Aug. 17, sort of, amid a pandemic that has upended the usual pomp-and-circumstance of presidential nominating conventions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

MILWAUKEE (NewsNation) — The Democratic Party will convene, sort of, amid a pandemic that has upended the usual pomp-and-circumstance of presidential nominating conventions.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez will be in Milwaukee, which he’d chosen as the 2020 convention host city. But presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, won’t be. Nor will the 57 state and territorial delegations, party activists and media that would have filled a downtown arena.

Instead, Democrats will put on essentially an all-virtual convention, broadcasting two hours of prime-time programming, much of it pre-taped, Monday through Thursday. No crowds and no balloons.

The Republican National Convention will be held next week, and will be held in a similar format. Meanwhile, this week President Donald Trump is hitting the campaign trail this week and flying to Wisconsin and Minnesota on Monday.