Biden says Democratic convention may need to be virtual

Joe Biden said Sunday that the Democratic National Convention may need to be held virtually.

The former vice president and 2020 Democratic frontrunner told ABC’s “This Week” that his party’s convention is “necessary,” but added it may not be possible to bring thousands of people to one location safely amid the pandemic.

“Well, we’re gonna have to do a convention,” Biden said. “We may have to do a virtual convention. I know I think we should be thinking about that right now.”

“What we do between now and then is gonna dictate a lot of that as well,” he added. 

BREAKING: Joe Biden tells @GStephanopoulos that Democrats “may have to do a virtual convention. I think we should be thinking about that right now. The idea of holding the convention is going to be necessary.”

The convention was rescheduled for August. https://t.co/OBWRrasROt pic.twitter.com/4WNgvp824n

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 5, 2020

Biden also encouraged those making the decision to “follow the science” and “listen to the experts.”

The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday that its national convention would be delayed by a month until August because of the coronavirus crisis.

The convention was originally scheduled to start July 13 but will now commence on Aug. 17.

A source close to the Biden campaign told The Hill last week that the former vice president had advocated for the convention to be delayed with the same format. The convention committee said on Thursday that it was trying to figure out the “most appropriate structure for this historic event.”

Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention is scheduled to occur Aug. 24 to 27 in Charlotte, N.C.

Biden also said on Sunday the country needs a vaccine “most of all,” but ” in the meantime we have to take all the efforts we can to make sure we prevent the spread.”

And he predicted the U.S. will need “at least two more iterations” of the coronavirus relief package passed last month.

The novel coronavirus has swept the nation, with the U.S. documenting more than 312,200 cases and 8,503 deaths as of Sunday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

–This breaking news report will be updated at 9:37 a.m.