President Donald Trump announced late Friday evening that his comeback rally scheduled for June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma will be moved to June 20 out of respect for people who suggested the rally would detract from the importance of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation and end of slavery in Texas.
“We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal,” said Trump. “Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents.
”I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests,” said Trump.
We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020
…We have already had ticket requests in excess of 200,000 people. I look forward to seeing everyone in Oklahoma!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020
The Trump campaign’s original decision to hold the rally on Juneteenth was met with sharp criticism, with Congresswoman Val Demings, a prospective vice presidential candidate for Trump’s opponent Joe Biden, arguing that holding the rally on that date, “at the site of the worst racist violence in American history,” was a message to the black community that Trump represents “more of the same.”
Tulsa was the site of the worst racist violence in American history. The president’s speech there on Juneteenth is a message to every Black American: more of the same.
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) June 11, 2020
Presumptive Democratic nominee Biden also hit Trump over the decision: “He’s going down to Texas on Juneteenth, right? The first major massacre, literally speaking, of Black Wall Street, years ago.”
Biden’s invocation of “Black Wall Street” is a reference to the Tulsa race massacre, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, during which a white mob razed a predominantly black neighborhood, including 1,200 homes and the Black Wall Street business district, when rumors spread that a black man had tried to rape a white woman — an allegation that also made its way into an inflammatory newspaper article before the violence started.
As many as 300 people were killed, and a commission-issued report on the massacre eight decades later concluded that the most likely explanation for what happened between the man and the woman was that he stepped on her foot, and when she screamed, he ran away.
During an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump told Harris Faulkner, who is African American, that it should be thought of as a celebration. When Faulkner interjected that it was scheduled for Emancipation day, Trump signaled they were both on the same page: “The fact that I’m having a rally on that day, you can really think about that very positively as a celebration because a rally to me is a celebration.”
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