DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, both Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for their conventions after economic turmoil and rioting in cities nationwide.
While the economy is slowly but surely returning to normal and most of the riots have ended, the conventions will occur during a highly uncertain time. In a historic first, Democrats are going totally virtual, and U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver his convention speech from the White House, in a bid to stem the spread of the virus. According to Fox News, the Republican convention will highlight the country’s “greatness, opportunity and President Donald Trump’s bold leadership.”
One speaker will be Tanya Weinreis, owner of Mountain Mudd Espresso in the U.S. state of Montana, a small coffee shop with around 50 employees.
Weinreis received a special loan reserved for businesses that have suffered from the pandemic, and she is slated to speak about how the loan made a big difference for her company during this unprecedented time. “The loan will allow us to continue paying our employees, as well as covering other operational costs like rent and utilities,” she was quoted as saying on a private channel.
She is also the wife retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn, who was murdered by looters while protecting a store during the nationwide riots that lasted over a week last May.
The speech comes at a time when some Democratic politicians are pushing to defund police departments. Last month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio passed a city budget that took 1 billion U.S. dollars from the city’s police budget. For their convention, Democrats will highlight stories of how ordinary Americans are struggling through the pandemic. The party will use that as a platform to cast blame on Trump and argue that Joe Biden is the leader to shepherd the nation through this ordeal, U.S. media reported.
Democrats have chosen “Uniting America” as the main theme for the four-day virtual event.
