President Donald Trump is set to return to the campaign trail on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This will be his first rally since the Coronavirus outbreak began three months ago. June 19 is also known as Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It is celebrated as Independence Day for the Black community.
Tulsa is the site of one of the country’s deadliest outbreaks of racial violence. White mobs attacked Black people and businesses with guns and bombs dropped from airplanes.
“Americans are ready to get back to action and so is President Trump,” Brad Parscale, the president’s campaign manager, said in a statement this week. “The great American comeback is real and the rallies will be tremendous.”
Black Twitter was not impressed with Trump’s location and date for the rally. Twitter user @acenewsitics tweeted, “Trump is holding his first campaign during the corona virus outbreak and BLM protests in Tulsa, Ok. Is it a coincidence Tulsa is the site of one of the worst race riots in American history, nearly 100 years ago? Or is this calculated?”
“Donald Trump is choosing to have his first campaign rally on June 19th in Tulsa,” @Zac_Petkanas tweeted. “That’s Juneteenth. In a city that experienced the worst racial violence in American history in 1921. This is like Reagan launching his campaign in Philadelphia, MS. Dog whistle for white supremacists.”
Social media user @KenTremendous tweeted, “TRUMP: ‘Hey black people, what have you got to lose?’ TRUMP (3 yrs later): ‘Hey Black people, I’m going to host a white supremacist pro-police brutality rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth during a global pandemic I made worse through ignorance and which is disproportionately killing you.’”
Trump also plans to hold rallies in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. Check out some more Twitter reactions below.