Trump campaign bringing in musical acts, camera crews for Tulsa rally
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign is going all-in on its preparation for its campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, bringing in musical acts, and flying in high-profile surrogates and camera crews to showcase the president's support, according to Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager.
The plan, first reported by Axios, includes leasing a jet to fly in prominent campaign supporters like "Black Voices for Trump" Advisory Board members. Dozens of lawmakers including Oklahoma Republican Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford will also campaign for the president.
The campaign said Wednesday evening over a million people had signed up online to attend the event, and while the rally location, the BOK Center in Tulsa, can only hold 19,000 people, the campaign is arranging overflow capacity, and will be harvesting voter data from all of the registrations.
Trump also plans to address crowds both inside the BOK Center and at stages set up outside.
The Trump campaign has faced some criticism for its holding of a rally amid the coronavirus pandemic. One top campaign supporter, Sen. James Lankford, urged people with underlying health conditions not to attend, and said everyone at the rally should be wearing masks.
More: Oklahoma GOP senator says people with health issues shouldn't attend Tulsa Trump rally
The campaign plans to distribute masks and hand sanitizer at the event, and temperature checks will be conducted.
The Trump campaign moved the rally back by one day after facing intense pushback for its original selection of June 19, or Juneteenth, which commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation. Critics of the original rally date noted the city's 1921 race massacre and criticized the selection amid nationwide protests over racial discrimination and police brutality.
Oklahoma marked its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases this week, reporting 228 new cases Tuesday, and many of the new cases are attributable to Tulsa County, the rally site.
Local health officials have called for the event to be canceled, and Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum said at a Wednesday press conference he would not be attending the event and would instead be greeting Trump at the airport.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump Tulsa rally organizers bringing in musical acts, camera crews
