Okla. gov to prez: Please don’t come

Oklahoma’s Republican governor has urged President Trump not to visit a neighborhood that was the scene of one of America’s most notorious anti-black race riots and the city’s mayor says he will skip the president’s controversial rally.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, an ally of Trump, said Wednesday he asked the White House to leave the Greenwood District off Trump’s itinerary for the Saturday #MAGA rally trip, saying it would be “disruptive.”

The neighborhood is marking the 99th anniversary of the deadly riots that killed an estimated 100 black residents as well as the June 19 Juneteenth celebrations marking the end of slavery.

The visit “is still kind of in flux,” Stitt told the Tulsa World newspaper. “Ultimately, the president doesn’t ask for permission before he comes to different places.”

Some critics of the president also found it insulting to blacks that the rally was originally planned for Juneteenth and in Tulsa, which is known for the 1921 race riot. Trump caved to pressure by moving the rally back a day to Saturday.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said he will greet Trump at the airport but won’t attend the rally itself at the BOK Arena.

Sen. James Lankford, another GOP ally of Trump, advised elderly people or anyone with a preexisting condition not to attend the rally, where Trump is effectively relaunching his reelection campaign after the widespread shutdowns to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Trump supporters are already camping outside the arena. Critics plan a weekend of protests.

Health officials say the rally could exacerbate the COVID-19 pandemic which is already spreading rapidly in Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma. A tentative plan to find an outdoor venue for the rally has been scrapped, Stitt said.

Protective face masks will be handed out at the rally but most Trump supporters are expected to follow the president’s lead and shun them.