BALTIMORE — Preparations are underway at Baltimore Center Stage as the venue gears up for a CNN town hall featuring President Joe Biden on Thursday.
“This is a little bit of a dream come true,” said Stephanie Ybarra, who is the artistic director at Baltimore Center Stage.
She said they are “thrilled” to be chosen to host the town hall.
“The building has been a buzz sort of nonstop for the last 24 hours or so,” she said.
President Biden will join CNN’s Anderson Cooper for the 90-minute town hall scheduled for 8:00 p.m.. The event will be held at Center Stage’s Pearl Stone Theatre.
Baltimore Center Stage said it’s been working with CNN and the White House to make sure this event is as safe and secure as possible.
“I’m excited for him to visit,” said Brenda Leadley. “I think it’s a great thing for Baltimore to be able to host the president.”
The town hall will be by invitation only. CNN said the audience will be made up of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
“It means a lot that he’s coming, and I think it’s a great venue to talk about issues facing the whole nation,” said one Baltimore resident.
The president will look to use the event to sell the country on his legislative agenda, but he’s expected to discuss several other issues as well.
“Baltimore has been the victim of abandonment and disinvestment, so I think that the infrastructure bill seems like an opportunity to reinvest in communities here,” she said.
CNN said it reached out to local civic, business, and political groups for questions. A spokesperson with Morgan State University confirmed the school was also contacted by CNN.
The town hall will be the president’s first visit to Baltimore since he took office.
