WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday night called for moving the Democratic National Convention from mid-July to August, making him the most prominent member of his party to say the convention must be rescheduled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“I doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July, early July,” Mr. Biden told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” “I think it’s going to have to move into August.”
Mr. Fallon had not asked Mr. Biden about the convention’s timing. The former vice president was responding to a question about how the virus would affect the election.
Katie Peters, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee, said after Mr. Biden’s remarks that she expected the committee to reveal more details about changes to convention plans by the end of this week.
It was the second time in two days that Mr. Biden had questioned the timing of the convention, which is planned for July 13 to 16 in Milwaukee. On Tuesday he said during an MSNBC interview that it was “hard to envision” the convention’s taking place as planned.
Senior Democratic officials believe Mr. Biden would much prefer to hold a traditional convention attended by thousands as opposed to a virtual convention in which he receives the party’s presidential nomination without a made-for-television event. President Trump, who like Mr. Biden hopes to have his nomination be a televised coronation, has pushed Republicans to maintain plans for their convention, which is set to take place in August in Charlotte, N.C.
While Mr. Biden has a nearly insurmountable delegate lead over Senator Bernie Sanders, his last remaining rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, he cannot take formal control over convention planning until he clinches the nomination or Mr. Sanders drops out of the race.
Democratic officials, including the party’s chairman, Tom Perez, had hoped and predicted that the party would have a nominee by late April, but with so many states postponing their primaries because of public health concerns about the coronavirus, Mr. Biden cannot clinch the nomination until June at the earliest if Mr. Sanders remains in the race.
Changing the date of the Democratic convention would be a logistical feat, requiring a rebooking of thousands of hotel rooms along with the arena and conference center space in Milwaukee — or another city if the event is moved.
Joe Solmonese, the chief executive of the Democratic National Convention, said in an interview Monday that he had six to eight weeks before any decisions must be made about moving the convention. Mr. Biden’s announcement is likely to hasten such choices.
“Providing an opportunity for our candidate to reaffirm our democratic values, unify the party and share his vision for a safer and stronger future for our country has never before felt more important,” Mr. Solmonese said Wednesday before Mr. Biden called for moving the convention. “As we continue to put plans in place for a successful Democratic National Convention this summer, we will balance protecting the health and well-being of convention attendees and our host city with our responsibility to deliver this historic and critical occasion.”
If the convention were moved, it would also affect how much money the party’s nominee would be able to spend over the summer. Candidates have separate pots of money they can tap into in a primary and a general election. The longer Mr. Biden is not the official nominee of the party, the less time he has to spend general election funds his campaign has raised.