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- On June 20, 2020, Donald Trump held a rally for his 2020 presidential re-election campaign at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the event marked his first public campaign event since March 2020. Critics and health officials warned that as a large public gathering in a confined indoor space, there was a high probability that new COVID-19 infections could occur at the event due to the lack of social distancing, amidst a recent spike in cases in Oklahoma; attendees were required to not hold the Trump campaign responsible for any COVID-19 exposure at the event. The original scheduling of the rally on June 19 was considered insensitive as it is a day of celebration honoring the emancipation of African Americans, and Tulsa was the site of a race massacre in 1921. Citing these concerns, the Trump campaign later delayed the rally to June 20. The rally attracted a smaller audience than projected by the Trump campaign, with an estimate of 6,200 by Tulsa's fire department—in comparison to the arena's capacity of around 19,000. An outdoor overflow stage (where Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were also to make appearances) was scrapped due to the lack of turnout. President Trump and other campaign officials alleged that disruptions by "radical" protesters and negative coverage of the rally by news outlets had deterred attendance, although the former claim was disputed by CNN reporters on-scene. At least eight positive cases of COVID-19 were reported among campaign staff who worked the rally, with six of them reported prior to the event. Following the rally, Trump faced criticism for stating in his speech that he had asked the federal government to "slow down" COVID-19 testing, in order to reduce the number of new U.S. cases. Trump and his staff claimed that the remark was meant to be "tongue-in-cheek", while Trump stated in a June 22 interview that he "does not kid" and that he discussed it with officials but did not outright order the government to do so. The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma tripled in the 30 days that followed the rally, while Republican politician Herman Cain died from complications of COVID-19 after attending it. (en)
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