President Donald Trump declared Monday morning that nearly one million people have registered for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday.
“Almost One Million people request tickets for the Saturday Night Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma!” Trump tweeted Monday morning:
Trump’s rally was initially scheduled on June 19, the same day as Juneteenth, a holiday recognizing the end of slavery in the U.S. But the president decided to reschedule the rally to Saturday so as not to coincide with the holiday.
Health officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and the director of the Tulsa City-County Health Department have voiced their concerns about hosting such a large event with coronavirus cases on the rise in Tulsa.
Fauci called large gatherings “a danger” and “risky,” while Tulsa’s health department Director Bruce Dart said he wished the rally would be postponed to a later date due to the “significant increase” in Tulsa’s case trends.
“I think it’s an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic,” Dart told Tulsa World. “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.”
Despite warnings from health officials, Trump tweeted that the rally will go on as planned, adding that “the far left fake news media” is attempting to “Covid shame” his rallies with large crowds, while giving “rioters and looters in Democrat-run cities” a sympathetic ear:
The Trump campaign has made people very aware of the risks of being in close quarters, asking those who signed up for the rally to acknowledge a statement that said “by clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present.”
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted Friday when the sign-ups for the rally passed 800,000 that it was the “biggest data haul and rally signup of all time by 10x”:
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.