Trump heads to Tulsa for campaign rally
President Donald Trump is heading to Tulsa on Saturday to relaunch his re election campaign amid a pandemic and a national reckoning over race, with tens of thousands of people expected to attend a downtown rally and protests.
“Big crowd sand lines already forming in Tulsa ,” the president tweeted Friday. “My campaign hasn't started yet. It starts on Saturday night in Oklahoma!”
The rally at the BOK Center is set to begin at 7 p.m., though the president is also expected to make remarks earlier at an outdoor site nearby. Vice President Mike Pence is also planning to attend.
In a possible preview of his message in Tulsa, the president released a recorded statement Friday evening saying the country is “coming back very very strong economically” from the shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus.
But presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bid en said on Twitter, “Donald Trump's failure to fight the coronavirus with the same energy and focus that he uses to troll his enemies on Twitter has cost us lives — and is putting hope for an economic recovery at risk.”
The president's first rally since early March set off a huge demand for tickets, with more than 1 million requests, the campaign said.
Protests are also planned, and the president warned in a tweet, “Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!”
State Rep. Monroe Nichols, a Tulsa Democrat, responded, “Exactly why I didn't want him to visit Greenwood. He is in capable of decency or leadership.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president was not talking about peaceful protesters.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum on Friday rescinded an executive order that imposed a curfew for the area around the BOK Center this weekend. The decision came after Bynum spoke with the president.
The Tulsa Police Department said a secure zone was established by the U.S. Secret Service and law enforcement agencies “to keep the area clear of individuals that are only present to break the law and disrupt the rights of people assembling peacefully.”
Thousands of people celebrated Juneteenth on Friday in Tulsa, marching through the historic Greenwood district where in 1921 a white mob massacred hundreds of Black residents.
Trump had originally scheduled his campaign rally for Friday but changed it to Saturday after an outcry nationwide about an event being held on June teen th so close to Greenwood.
Gov. Kevin Stitt invited Trump and Pence to tour t he Greenwood area but scotched the idea.
Health concerns
Meanwhile, many continued to express concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19 because of the rally and demonstrations. Oklahoma has experienced a 140% increase in cases in the past week and added another 352 on Friday.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday rejected a motion by a Tulsa group seeking to require the BOK Center' s management company to enforce mask wearing and social distancing. The court said there was no state law requiring the company to take such measures.
George Monks, presi - dent of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said Friday, “We hope that leaders at the state and federal levels would make every effort to keep Oklahomans safe during these events by requiring precautionary measures such as face masks and social distancing. Unfortunately, more emphasis has been placed on individualism than on public health.”
Oklahoma City physician Lenny Henderson started a petition against the rally, which was signed by more than 180 doctors.
“As Doctors, we must express our opposition to the Trump political rally planned for June 20 thin Tulsa, Oklahoma ,” the petition states .“This is not a political position we are taking. This is a public health position.”
At a news conference in Tulsa, Stitt said, “There's going to be naysayers about the president coming to Oklahoma. My question is: When is the right time? Is it in July or August or November?”
St it ts aid ,“There' s a million requests to come see the president. ... We're here to be as safe as possible, show the president a great time. We're excited to have him here in our state.”