Published 08:56 IST, June 21st 2020
No masks, 'huge crowd' in empty stadium, racism & criticism at Donald Trump's Tulsa rally
US President Donald Trump on Saturday took to stage in Tulsa to deliver his re-election campaign speech without wearing a face mask and thousands followed him
- World News
- 2 min read
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday took to stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to deliver his re-election campaign speech without wearing a face mask and thousands who attended the rally followed him. At least 19,000 people attended the rally at BOK Centre in Tulsa with a majority of them not wearing face masks despite America being the country with the highest number of Coronavirus cases, at a time when Trump is already cornered by numerous controversies.
'I have saved thousands of lives here'
While touching upon the surge in COVID-19 cases in the United States, the President once again raked up the topic of 'Chinese virus' and said his initiative towards staining the fast-spreading coronavirus were effective in controlling the rising number of cases in the country.
"I shut thousands of Chinese from coming to the US in January. I have saved thousands of lives here. And then I stopped the Europeans," Trump said. In his speech, Trump also attacked the Democrats and radical Left-wingers for spreading fake news against him over his administration's response towards the pandemic outbreak in the country. Many people have slammed Trump for being "racist and "ignorant" during his address.
'Once-in-a-generation moment of racial upheaval'
'Crooked Media' founder and co-host of popular podcast 'Pod Save America' Jon Favreau took to Twitter and said, "This is an entire speech about all the ways that Trump is a victim, delivered in the middle of a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a once-in-a-generation moment of racial and cultural upheaval."
Editor of news agency ANI, Smita Prakash said that Trump's speech shows the disconnect between the media and the American people.
Trump had earlier claimed that it had received over a million requests for the rally, however, gathered was far less than that.
Meanwhile, just hours before the rally, Trump's campaign revealed that six staff members who were helping set up for the event had tested positive for the Coronavirus. Campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said that “quarantine procedures were immediately implemented,” and that neither the affected staffers nor anyone who was in immediate contact with them would attend the event.
(With agency inputs)
Updated 08:56 IST, June 21st 2020