The Tulsa World, an Oklahoma-based newspaper, urged President Trump not to hold his upcoming rally in the state.
The paper published an editorial, headlined “This is the wrong time and Tulsa is the wrong place for the Trump rally,” on Sunday, less than a week before the president plans to hold his first rally since halting them because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“We don’t know why he chose Tulsa, but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city,” the editorial read. “Tulsa is still dealing with the challenges created by a pandemic. The city and state have authorized reopening, but that doesn’t make a mass indoor gathering of people pressed closely together and cheering a good idea. There is no treatment for COVID-19 and no vaccine. It will be our health care system that will have to deal with whatever effects follow.”
The editorial also noted that should Trump hold the rally, it “will attract protests, the vast majority of which we expect to be peaceful. But there may also be confrontation and inappropriate behavior from some.”
The Trump campaign faced backlash over the date of the event, which was originally scheduled for Juneteenth, before the campaign pushed it back a day.
“There’s no reason to think a Trump appearance in Tulsa will have any effect on November’s election outcome in Tulsa or Oklahoma,” the editorial read. “It has already concentrated the world’s attention of the fact that Trump will be rallying in a city that 99 years ago was the site of a bloody race massacre. This is the wrong place for the rally.”
