A welcome home party for white supremacists
»»Fear of far-right riots at Trump rally »»19,000 supporters head for Tulsa
turning from Trump after his chaotic handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed almost 120,000 people in the US, and his response to the killing of George Floyd.
Trump, who this week was forced to deny suggestions he has Parkinson’s disease after he appeared to struggle to walk down a ramp, arrives in Tulsa boasting almost one million people have applied to see him in a week.
Critics argue that in a desperate bid for a second term, Trump is returning to the racist playbook that helped get him into the White House in 2016.
On Thursday, Twitter marked a fake video Trump shared of a black baby running from a “racist” white baby as “manipulated media”, while Facebook took down his campaign advert because of Nazi imagery.
The killing of Mr Floyd, 46, allegedly by white police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, last month sparked global demonstrations. But Mr Trump’s response was to threaten protesters “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” and tear-gas priests to allow him a photo op outside a Washington church.
He has refused to acknowledge the anxieties voiced by protesters. At an event to discuss “justice disparities” last week in Dallas, Trump warned against calling “tens of millions of decent Americans as racist or bigots”.
Instead, he championed himself as
“president of law and order” as he called for “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” to be used against protesters.
He suggested an elderly protester in New York, who was injured after he was pushed to the ground by police officers, was part of a set up.
On Tuesday, Trump said the “vast majority” of police officers were “selfless and courageous public servants”.
In unveiling his police reform executive order, he chose to attack his predecessor Barack Obama for failing to act during his tenure.
The President’s plan is to ban police from using chokeholds except for in instances when their lives are at risk and set up a database where police departments track officers who have been accused of using excessive force.
Trump, who said “bad” cops only represent a “small percentage” of police, failed to mention George Floyd
Tulsa Massacre destroyed 1,000 properties in June 1921
National Guard take prisoners after massacre once. In contrast, after the deadly riot in Charlottesville in 2017 he defended neonazis as “very fine people”.
Tulsa politician Monroe Nichols said any recent US leader would have been Kevin Stitt welcomed to the city, but that “President Trump is very different”. He said: “His ‘fine people on both sides’ in Charlottesville. His birtherism with President Obama. These are the kinds of things that make black people uncomfortable.”
Tulsa health care chiefs had urged Trump to postpone his rally due to Covid-19. Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce Dart said: “I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn’t as large a concern.”
Trump responded by demanding all attendees sign waivers promising not to sue if they catch Covid-19.