Donald Trump: Republicans ban media from vote on whether to renominate presidential candidate

For the first time in modern history, the Republican Party will consider whether to renominate Donald Trump as their presidential candidate from behind closed doors.

The Republican National Convention said voting for their 2020 election nominee will be held in private without members of the press present.

Nominating conventions are traditionally meant to be media bonanzas, where political parties seek to leverage the attention the events draw to spread their message to as many voters as possible.

It comes after Mr Trump called off public entry at a convention in Florida last month - where delegates were scheduled to vote for a presidential nominee - citing rising cases of coronavirus across the country.

“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,” a convention spokeswoman said.

“We are happy to let you know if this changes, but we are working within the parameters set before us by state and local guidelines regarding the number of people who can attend events.”

If the Republican Party's decision stands, it will mark the first nominating convention in modern history to be closed to reporters.

Privately, some delegations have raised logistical issues, citing the increasing number of jurisdictions imposing mandatory quarantine orders on travellers returning from states experiencing surges in the virus.

The subset of delegates in Charlotte will be casting proxy votes on behalf of the more than 2,500 official delegates to the convention.

Alternate delegates and guests have already been prohibited.

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