There’s a little uncertainty about the ceremony for renominating President Trump during the Republican National Convention in Charlotte later this month. On Saturday, a GOP spokeswoman said it would be conducted in private, without members of the press present. She cited the coronavirus as the reason.

Though we’re glad convention authorities are taking coronavirus seriously, a press ban would be disappointing to many of the presidents’ fans, who would follow it from the safety of their homes if they could.

But a committee official contradicted that assessment on Sunday, saying that no final decisions have been made and that logistics and press coverage options were still being evaluated.

However it happens, Charlotte should benefit from the presence of the 336 delegates who are scheduled to attend — while wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, we hope.

As of last week, both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence planned to be in Charlotte to accept the nomination. We’ll see. It wouldn’t be unusual for the president’s plans to change once again.

We’re not unsympathetic to the diminished nature of this year’s convention. The party nomination process is usually exciting, and Trump has a flair for fanfare. Ideally, his acceptance would be carried out in an auditorium full of roaring supporters. We wish that a convention of that magnitude could be held in Charlotte, where attendees would fill hotels and restaurants, helping everyone during a time in which many businesses are struggling. That was certainly the original plan.

But it’s still not safe for crowds to gather with no safety precautions. They’ll have to make do.

Back in June, frustrated that North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper wouldn’t guarantee him a packed house in the middle of a raging pandemic, President Trump accepted the invitation of Jacksonville, Fla., Mayor Lenny Curry and moved many convention functions there. Unfortunately, Florida became a simmering hot spot for COVID-19. Some prominent Republicans said they wouldn’t attend. Donors were antsy. And a group of businesses in Jacksonville sued to block the convention.

Despite continuing assurances from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, it’s still not safe. Nearly 7,200 Floridians have died from the virus as of Tuesday. One out of every 52 residents in the state has been infected with it. And in July, Curry conceded that it wouldn’t be safe to hold the convention in Jacksonville.

So last month, Trump bowed to reality and canceled the Jacksonville event. “We won’t do a big, crowded convention, per se — it’s not the right time for that,” Trump explained.

But it hadn’t been “the right time” in Charlotte, either. And though the president now says that public safety has concerned him all along, it didn’t seem to be much of a priority when he was haranguing Cooper for daring to suggest that an arena filled with 18,000 people, not socially distancing, wasn’t a good idea.

Cooper isn’t out of the woods yet, either. But his judgment has been sound and he hasn’t denied the reality of a pandemic. He’s given it to us straight about the challenges ahead, even when the news is bad.

Is that too much to expect from any of our leaders?

— The Winston-Salem Journal