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https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...um=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most
TULSA — Tulsa was a city on edge Friday night, as Trump fans and protesters gathered in anticipation of the president's first campaign rally in months set for Saturday, raising fears of a violent confrontation and a worsening spread of the coronavirus as local cases spike.
Authorities set up a perimeter around the 19,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, where those eager to see Trump started lining up at midweek. Businesses around the area boarded up their windows, and the mayor issued a state of emergency and set up a curfew out of concern that outside groups were headed to town to raise trouble.
But the city announced it was rescinding the safety measures after Trump tweeted:
"I just spoke to the highly respected Mayor of Tulsa, G.T. Bynum, who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters attending the #MAGA Rally," Trump said. "Enjoy yourselves - thank you to Mayor Bynum!"
"Give me the date that America was great for everybody," he said. "It wasn't great for blacks when we were enslaved. And then had to fight Jim Crow and then fight for the right to vote. It wasn't great for white women who couldn't even vote and was reduced to 'You stay in the kitchen.' . . . When was America great for everybody?"
The president's decision to hold his first campaign-style rally since the pandemic began in Tulsa on the weekend of Juneteenth angered many across the county and comes as the country is in the midst of a historic reckoning on race after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Trump, who has used divisive language about race, originally planned the rally to be held on Juneteenth itself but moved it a day after widespread outcry.
Although Oklahoma is a solidly Republican state, Trump campaign officials said they chose the city for Trump’s first campaign rally in months because Oklahoma is already well into reopening after the coronavirus shutdown and view it as a celebration of sorts that the worst of the crisis is over. Trump and others have said about 1 million people have requested tickets to the event.
The campaign intends to supply rallygoers with masks and hand sanitizer, but it will not be keeping attendees six feet apart.
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This is a glaring example of how Trump is fanning the flames of the pandemic.
Oklahoma’s new cases have spiked since the state moved into an aggressive reopening plan on June 1.
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University’s Chan School of Public Health, said Oklahoma has the second-fastest-growing per capita rate of new coronavirus infections in the country, based on a seven-day average.
===================================
The city’s top health official, Bruce Dart, has said he was worried the rally could become a “super spreader” event and said Wednesday that he had recommended the rally be postponed until it was safe.
“I know so many people are over covid,” Dart said. “But covid is not over.”
Trump’s supporters said that they were unconcerned about the perils of coronavirus or of protesters.
“I’m not going to let those people run me off,” Terri Whisenhunt, 49, of Wagoner, Okla., vowed. “And covid-19 is not going to keep me locked in my house. I think it’s all a bunch of B.S.”
She said she would not be wearing a mask inside the rally, echoing the sentiments of many of Trump’s top staffers, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who said Friday that no one in the administration has any reservations about going forward with the rally during the pandemic. Asked why Trump is taking the risk of spreading infection, she said, “Look, I think we’re confident we can operate safely in Tulsa.”
TULSA — Tulsa was a city on edge Friday night, as Trump fans and protesters gathered in anticipation of the president's first campaign rally in months set for Saturday, raising fears of a violent confrontation and a worsening spread of the coronavirus as local cases spike.
Authorities set up a perimeter around the 19,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, where those eager to see Trump started lining up at midweek. Businesses around the area boarded up their windows, and the mayor issued a state of emergency and set up a curfew out of concern that outside groups were headed to town to raise trouble.
But the city announced it was rescinding the safety measures after Trump tweeted:
"I just spoke to the highly respected Mayor of Tulsa, G.T. Bynum, who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters attending the #MAGA Rally," Trump said. "Enjoy yourselves - thank you to Mayor Bynum!"
"Give me the date that America was great for everybody," he said. "It wasn't great for blacks when we were enslaved. And then had to fight Jim Crow and then fight for the right to vote. It wasn't great for white women who couldn't even vote and was reduced to 'You stay in the kitchen.' . . . When was America great for everybody?"
The president's decision to hold his first campaign-style rally since the pandemic began in Tulsa on the weekend of Juneteenth angered many across the county and comes as the country is in the midst of a historic reckoning on race after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Trump, who has used divisive language about race, originally planned the rally to be held on Juneteenth itself but moved it a day after widespread outcry.
Although Oklahoma is a solidly Republican state, Trump campaign officials said they chose the city for Trump’s first campaign rally in months because Oklahoma is already well into reopening after the coronavirus shutdown and view it as a celebration of sorts that the worst of the crisis is over. Trump and others have said about 1 million people have requested tickets to the event.
The campaign intends to supply rallygoers with masks and hand sanitizer, but it will not be keeping attendees six feet apart.
=======================================================================================
This is a glaring example of how Trump is fanning the flames of the pandemic.
Oklahoma’s new cases have spiked since the state moved into an aggressive reopening plan on June 1.
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University’s Chan School of Public Health, said Oklahoma has the second-fastest-growing per capita rate of new coronavirus infections in the country, based on a seven-day average.
===================================
The city’s top health official, Bruce Dart, has said he was worried the rally could become a “super spreader” event and said Wednesday that he had recommended the rally be postponed until it was safe.
“I know so many people are over covid,” Dart said. “But covid is not over.”
Trump’s supporters said that they were unconcerned about the perils of coronavirus or of protesters.
“I’m not going to let those people run me off,” Terri Whisenhunt, 49, of Wagoner, Okla., vowed. “And covid-19 is not going to keep me locked in my house. I think it’s all a bunch of B.S.”
She said she would not be wearing a mask inside the rally, echoing the sentiments of many of Trump’s top staffers, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who said Friday that no one in the administration has any reservations about going forward with the rally during the pandemic. Asked why Trump is taking the risk of spreading infection, she said, “Look, I think we’re confident we can operate safely in Tulsa.”
