Trump claims Oklahoma, where he's hosting his next rally has a low coronavirus rate. It it has actually increased
Trump's eagerness to return to his beloved campaign rallies will see him take to the stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 19 June despite the pandemic still showing no signs of subsiding in the US.
The president's controversial move to get out of Washington DC and speak to his supporters again has been condemned by local health officials who feel that the location of the rally is not safe enough.
Speaking to the Tulsa World newspaper, Dr Bruce Dart, the director of the Tulsa City-County Health Department, said:
I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.
Dart added that he had hoped that Trump would move the date of the campaign because of an increase in cases, but they appear to be going full steam ahead, with the president's campaign manager bragging online about some very dubious ticket sales, with Trump claiming that there has been 'one million' requests made for tickets.
Dart's fears were confirmed on Monday, when Tulsa announced that it had experienced the biggest single-day increase of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, with 89 cases being confirmed on Sunday.
However, according to Trump the state of Oklahoma has handled the pandemic very well and has a 'very low number' – despite cases continuing to rise.
In addition to this, Trump actually wants to increase the size of the crowd in the venue to 60,000 people, telling reporters at the White House:
We have a 22,000 seat arena, but I think we're also going to take the convention hall next door and that's going to hold 40,000.
Oklahoma's Republican Governor Kevin Stitt seemed to back this up.
PBS quotes him as saying:
We’re excited we’re being recognised as one of the first states to safely and measurably reopen. I’m looking for a potential other venue that maybe we could move it outside. It’s still kind of in the works.
The misinformation about coronavirus in the state continued when Vice President Mike Pence falsely claimed that Oklahoma had "flattened the curve" despite, as already stated, cases going up.
The almost brazen disregard for people's safety and ignorance of facts from Trump's team left some people astonished.
To add to the controversy of this rally, it's planned for 19 June. The day is also known as 'Juneteenth' and was the date in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were officially freed.
Tulsa is also the site of the worst race-related massacre in US history when a white mob attacked black residents and destroyed their property and businesses using both ground and air assaults between 31 May and 1 June, 1921.