Trump changes date of Tulsa rally scheduled for Juneteenth
President Donald Trump late Friday announced he will no longer hold a comeback campaign rally on Juneteenth, saying he'll push the event back one day out of respect for the date that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
"Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out ... of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents," Trump posted on Twitter. "I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests."
The rally would be Trump's first since taking a three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was initially set for June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma — a date and time that sparked fierce outcry amid weeks of nationwide protests over police brutality against African Americans.
Tulsa was the site of one of the most brutal race massacres in United States' history, where in 1921 white mobs burned a prosperous black community in the city.
When asked by Fox News' Harris Faulkner in an interview aired this week if the rally was intentionally scheduled for Juneteenth, Trump retorted "uh, no."
"Think about it as a celebration," Trump said. "Don't think about it as an inconvenience."
Trump's record on race has come under intense scrutiny as protests sparked in dozens of cities following the death of a black Minnesota man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer. Trump earlier this month threatened military force to quell protesters, declaring himself the president of "law and order".
When confronted with his response to the protests, Trump has insisted that his record on race is the best of any president since Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Trump also plans to hold rallies in Florida, Texas and Arizona. The president's signature rallies — with dense crowds of cheering fans — were suspended in March to accommodate social distancing measures in response to coronavirus.
The pandemic has yet to subside, with the United States passing 2 million cases this week. Attendees to Trump's rallies must now agree not to sue the campaign if they get sick.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale earlier Friday hyped the Tulsa rally as the "hottest ticket ever!" Trump tweeted that the campaign had received requests for over 200,000 tickets. The population of Tulsa is estimated at just over 400,000.
