...Oh, noze! Not him!...
has held his first major rally in months in a bid to boost his chances of reelection. Though the crowd was smaller than expected, health officials warned the event could spark a surge in cases.
Thousands of Trump supporters descended on Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday for the US president's first campaign rally in more than three months.
"You are warriors," Trump told his supporters after taking the stage.
The event followed weeks of protests about racial inequality, and as the US continues to battle a pandemic.
Tulsa has seen COVID-19 cases spike over the past week. Local health officials warned that holding a massive gathering at a 19,000-person indoor arena only increased the risk of coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
spreading.
The crowd ultimately appeared lighter than expected, with thousands of empty seats. Campaign officials also scrapped plans for the president to first address an overflow crowd outdoors.
STAFFERS TEST POSITIVE
Just hours before the rally, Trump's campaign reported that six members of staff who had been helping set up the event had tested positive for the virus.
"Quarantine procedures were immediately implemented," Tim Murtaugh, the campaign communications director, said in a statement. "No COVID-positive staffers or anyone in immediate contact will be at today's rally or near attendees and elected officials."
Hand sanitizer and masks were handed out at the entrance, but the campaign also issued a disclaimer, telling those attending that they must "assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19."
Face masks handout for Trump rally attendees in Tulsa, Oklahoma... pic.twitter.com/anW9pNTwP0
— Stefan Simons (@StefanSimons4) June 20, 2020
REELECTION BID
Trump is seeking reelection in November, but is trailing in the polls behind his Democratic rival Joe
Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
...Old, boring, a plagiarist, fond of hair sniffing and grabbing the protruding parts of women, and not whatcha call brilliant...
. His campaign has been marred by criticism over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak and his response to the police killing of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. Trump has also come under fire for deciding to hold the rally in Tulsa, where hundreds of black residents were killed by white mobs in 1921.
Protests were also held in Tulsa on Saturday, and some of the city's Black leaders had voiced concerns about unrest. Authorities said they expected around 100,000 people in the downtown area.
Trump warned Friday that the rally aimed to focus on reopening the coronavirus-hit economy, and that any "protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes" who traveled to Oklahoma would be firmly dealt with.
And the speech itself:
| From the Jerusalem Post, courtesy of g(r)omgoru: |
This campaign started when 51-year-old grandmother Mary Jo Laupp, who on Pete Buttigieg's campaign in Iowa last fall, posted a video on the app encouraging followers to buy tickets and not attend.
"All of those of us that want to see this 19,000 seat auditorium barely filled or completely empty go reserve tickets now and leave him standing alone there on the stage," she said, according to CNN. She did this due to the controversy surrounding the rally from both coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Another effort is believed to have come from the k-pop fandom, with many over social media having called on the South Korean music genre's very active online fan-base to engage in this particular form of trolling.
Responding over Twitter to Parscale's claim of radical activists, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted "Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID.
"Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud," she added, referring to members of Generation Z.The congresswoman then added: "KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too."