On Saturday, President Donald Trump will have his first campaign rally in some three months. Trump seems to be hoping that a return to his usual bully pulpit will lift his spirits. The warmth of his fervent base will warm the Trump Administration like a cold house that’s just had its furnace repair finished. Or, so Trump hopes. Here’s what to expect on Saturday during Trump’s Tulsa Rally.
By all measures, Oklahoma is a deep red state. Trump carried the state easily in 2016, and is expected to do so again in 2020. It’s home turf for the president, where he can get the crowd riled up and really feel good about himself. And he needs that right now. Currently, his presidency is in a tailspin, his approval ratings are abysmal and he’s facing down the very real prospect of losing the White House in November.
This is a tough time for him, okay? So, he really needs this thing to go well. As something of a show of solidarity with the president, Tulsa has already instituted a curfew to head off potential protests against the president. Trump himself took to Twitter to threaten would-be protesters that this would be a “different scene” to what they had encountered before.
Trump himself ordered the Secret Service to attack peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park a few weeks ago. It seems unlikely that security at his rally will be providing a “different scene” than that. Unless, of course, they allow the peaceful protesters to continue protesting peacefully.
Some city officials and medical experts are worried about the proposed festival atmosphere of the event. Trump’s campaign is having attendees sign waivers stating that they can’t sue the campaign should they contract COVID-19 during the event. This has many worried that the event could serve as a “super-spreader,” leading to another surge in cases.
Oklahoma currently has less than 400 active cases. However, it’s unlikely that only people from Oklahoma will be attending the rally. Bands will play music throughout the day and food vendors will be selling meals. This means it’s unlikely that masks will be worn at all times and that social distancing guidelines will be followed.
What’s more, the event was moved from today, June 19, out of respect for the holiday Juneteenth. Also known as Freedom Day, Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US. Trump’s decision to hold a rally on June 19 in Tulsa, the sight of a massacre of black business owners over one hundred years ago, drew swift criticism. While the campaign has moved the rally to Saturday out of respect, it’s still overlapping with traditional weekend-long Juneteenth celebrations in the city.
