Reuters :
President Donald Trump, addressing a less-than-full arena for his first political rally in months, criticized anti-racism protests and defended his handling of the coronavirus on Saturday in an effort to reinvigorate his re-election campaign.
The president, who revels in large crowds and had predicted his first rally in months would be epic, complained that the media had discouraged attendees from coming and cited bad behavior from protesters outside but did not specifically acknowledge the fact that many seats in the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena were empty.
Trump sought to use the event to bring momentum back to his campaign after coming under fire for his responses to the coronavirus and to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.
The smaller-than-expected crowd robbed him, at least for now, of the ability to highlight enthusiasm for his candidacy as an advantage over his expected Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, who has eschewed large campaign events.
Trump has brushed aside criticism for his decision to hold his first rally since March 2 in Tulsa, the site of the country’s bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence against Black Americans some 100 years ago. The president, who has encouraged a militaristic response to the demonstrations nationwide while taking criticism for not showing more empathy for the plight of Black Americans, criticized some of the protests.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments – our beautiful monuments – tear down our statues and punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control. We’re not conforming,” Trump said.
The Republican president is trailing Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in polls ahead of the November election. Biden has hammered Trump for his response to the pandemic.
Trump defended his response, saying that more testing had led to identifying more cases, seemingly to his chagrin.
“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to … find more cases,” he said. “So, I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.'” A White House official said he was “obviously kidding” with that remark.
Hours before the rally, Trump’s campaign announced six members of its advance team had tested positive for COVID-19. Only a handful of attendees wore masks inside the arena.
President Donald Trump, addressing a less-than-full arena for his first political rally in months, criticized anti-racism protests and defended his handling of the coronavirus on Saturday in an effort to reinvigorate his re-election campaign.
The president, who revels in large crowds and had predicted his first rally in months would be epic, complained that the media had discouraged attendees from coming and cited bad behavior from protesters outside but did not specifically acknowledge the fact that many seats in the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena were empty.
Trump sought to use the event to bring momentum back to his campaign after coming under fire for his responses to the coronavirus and to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.
The smaller-than-expected crowd robbed him, at least for now, of the ability to highlight enthusiasm for his candidacy as an advantage over his expected Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, who has eschewed large campaign events.
Trump has brushed aside criticism for his decision to hold his first rally since March 2 in Tulsa, the site of the country’s bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence against Black Americans some 100 years ago. The president, who has encouraged a militaristic response to the demonstrations nationwide while taking criticism for not showing more empathy for the plight of Black Americans, criticized some of the protests.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments – our beautiful monuments – tear down our statues and punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control. We’re not conforming,” Trump said.
The Republican president is trailing Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in polls ahead of the November election. Biden has hammered Trump for his response to the pandemic.
Trump defended his response, saying that more testing had led to identifying more cases, seemingly to his chagrin.
“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to … find more cases,” he said. “So, I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.'” A White House official said he was “obviously kidding” with that remark.
Hours before the rally, Trump’s campaign announced six members of its advance team had tested positive for COVID-19. Only a handful of attendees wore masks inside the arena.
