As Donald Trump readies for 'MAGA Rally', Tulsa health director wishes it gets 'postponed'

As US President Donald Trump readies for the first rally since COVID-19 pandemic in Tulsa, the director of Tulsa Health Department has said that he wishes Trump would postpone the campaign rally which has been recently scheduled for June 20. Amid violent Black Lives Matter protests and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the US President had announced his reelection campaign’s first large gathering for 'Make America Great Again' on June 19 but after understanding the relevance of the ‘Juneteenth’, Trump shifted that date to June 20. However, now Tulsa’s Health Director Bruce Dart has told a local newspaper that he wishes the event could have been postponed to a time when the coronavirus is not ‘as large a concern as it is today’. 

As the US has recorded more than two million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, Tulsa’s health department reported its highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases on June 12. Dart noted that it would be an ‘honour’ for the city to have a sitting president willing to visit the community in the area but ‘not during a pandemic’. Tulsa’s health director raised his concerns with Trump’s rally ranging from the ability of authorities to protect the visitors to ensure that the 45th US President is also safe. 

According to international media reports, the Tulsa Health Department said that it is concerned about the safety of rally visitors in enclosed spaces where maintaining social distancing could be a challenge. Even top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci recently said that he has not had a word with Donald Trump about the event scheduled to happen in the BOK Center in Tulsa. However, Fauci urged people who are choosing to attend the rally to wear a facemask at all times. 

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Rally organisers will not take responsibility

Dart's concerns with the rally came after US President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign had already announced its first rally in Tulsa on June 20 since the coronavirus outbreak hit the country. However, during the registration for the venue in Oklahoma, the campaign has added a disclaimer that denies taking any responsibility for the visitors if they contract the deadly COVID-19 disease. At the end of the form, the US President’s campaign has declared that the people who register for the rally are acknowledging “an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19” and not hold Trump or any other official from the campaign responsible. 

The disclaimer reads, “By ing register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”

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Image Source: AP