US Election 2020: Democratic Presidential Debate to take place in Washington DC instead

The election continues despite the growing concern of the coronavirus as politicians press on with their campaigns and some with their rallies. After the news of the upcoming Democratic debate next week not having a live audience, a new report reveals that the debate will take place in Washington DC instead.

According to Politico, the Democratic National Committee announced another change in the upcoming presidential debate on Sunday. As a preventative measure and to reduce travel, the Democratic presidential debate will be taking place in Washington DC instead of continuing in Phoenix, Arizona. This would be the first one-on-one debate between the remaining presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

The debate will be held at the CNN Studio, where the network, the DNC, and Univision will all host the event. This follows the previous announcement that the upcoming debate between the two candidates will have no live audience present to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The pandemic has also made changes to the moderating panel as Univision’s Jorge Ramos will no longer be part of the moderating team due to having been in close proximity with someone who was in direct contact with a person who tested positive. Ilia Calderon will be taking his place in the moderating panel instead. CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper will continue to be part of the moderating panel for the debate.

Along with the changes in plans for the upcoming debate, the coronavirus has also forced the shut down of many establishments and cancellations of events. The White House and US Capitol have suspended their tours as a preventative measure to keep the virus from spreading. The White House released a statement saying that tours of the White House are temporarily suspended, effective immediately, while the Capitol tours will continue at least until the end of March, where the temporary suspension will take place.

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed Congress about the decision, some have already expressed their reservations about keeping the Capitol open in the midst of the crisis. Democrat Representative Dean Phillips expressed that Congress should be encouraging people not to travel or visit the Capitol right now. Republican representative Liz Cheney also appeared to echo Phillips’s opinion, saying that the tours should be suspended until the time comes when it can be done without putting the health of tourists at risk.