Most of the details behind President Joe Biden’s visit to Cincinnati Wednesday have been kept under wraps, but there is a way you can be picked to ask him a question at the invite-only, CNN-hosted town hall.
Renee Mahaffey Harris, president and CEO of The Center for Closing the Health Gap, says CNN recently reached out to the organization.
“And so (CNN) reached out to me to see if we would reach out to people in the community based on what our organization does. So we said we’d be happy to reach out to the people that we talk to and organizations we work with and ask them to pose questions,” she said. “And based on the question, that’s how they’ll decide the invites, I understand.”
It’s the first time the Health Gap has been contacted about a presidential town hall.
Mahaffey Harris says she can’t be sure why CNN decided to reach out to the organization, but she suspects it’s because of the Health Gap’s efforts to spread awareness about COVID-19 and the vaccine throughout the pandemic. The organization also historically puts its efforts behind initiatives to improve health inequities in the community.
“I don’t know where anyone’s being invited to. I don’t know any details,” she said. “I know the date, but I don’t know how and when those decisions were made and how people will be notified.”
To submit a question, click on the CNN submission form.
The location of the town hall has not been announced yet, but it’s expected to start at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
It’s the president’s first visit to the city since being elected. He’s expected to take on a range of issues, from COVID-19 to the economy, CNN said in a statement.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Cincinnati in late April to talk about infrastructure and public transit systems. She was also asked about funding for Cincinnati bridges in the American Jobs Plan.
“I can tell you that I know about the Brent Spence Bridge, and it is a very important bridge in America,” Harris said with a smile. “I am sure that there will be a lot of conversation about its qualifications for some support out of the American Jobs Plan.”
While there is bi-partisan support for spending more than $1 trillion on infrastructure throughout the county, the U.S. Senate is still hashing out what details will look like and how much it will ultimately cost taxpayers.