"The Poor People’s Campaign” next week is holding what the social justice group says is the largest 2020 presidential forum so far where candidates take questions, and front-runner Joe Biden has agreed to appear.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Michael Bennet, as well as Rep. Eric Swalwell, Julián Castro, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson and Wayne Messam, have also said they'll be at the June 17 event in Washington, according to the the organization.


The event has the potential be an adversarial setting for the 2020 candidates. Rev. William Barber, who co-leads the organization with Rev. Liz Theoharis, said the presidential candidates will take questions directly from them and low-income activists.

“We cannot have another election cycle like we had in 2016, where we had 26 presidential debates in the primary and general election — and not one focused on systemic voter suppression and gerrymandering, and not one focused on poverty,” Barber said. “We have to demand that we focus on these issues.”

The organization said it expects about 1,000 people to attend the three-day gathering that the presidential forum is a part of, including members from 40 states, along with religious leaders, union representatives and economists. The Poor People’s Campaign also invited President Donald Trump to the town hall, but he is not expected to attend, organizers said.

Over the next year and a half, the Poor People’s Campaign is planning to hold a series of town halls, trainings and voter-registration drives in an effort to mobilize Americans who do not typically vote in presidential elections. The group said the effort will culminate in a “major” march on Washington in the spring of 2020.

