Democratic Party moves primary debate from Arizona, moderator pulls out over coronavirusWashington Examiner, Mar 12, 2020
The Democratic Party won't host this weekend's head-to-head primary debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in Arizona.
The Democratic National Committee, the party's organizing body, originally scheduled the election cycle's 11th debate in Phoenix. But it decided Thursday to move the event to Washington, D.C., amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in order to reduce cross-country travel, all parties have decided that the best path forward is to hold Sunday’s debate at CNN’s studio in Washington, D.C., with no live audience," DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa wrote in a statement.
The DNC this week decided to scrap plans to have the debate in front of a crowd, while hosting partners CNN and Univision nixed the traditional press filing center and spin room.
On Thursday, Hinojosa also announced Univision anchor and moderator Jorge Ramos "was in proximity with someone who was in direct contact with a person that tested positive for coronavirus."
"Both Mr. Ramos and the person he was in contact with are in good health and symptom-free," Hinojosa said. "Univision’s News Anchor Ilia Calderón will moderate the debate in his place."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democratic-party-moves-primary-debate-from-arizona-moderator-pulls-out-over-coronavirus
