Trump shifts date of Oklahoma rally to 'respect' emancipation holiday

[rooster59]

Trump shifts date of Oklahoma rally to 'respect' emancipation holiday

By Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would shift the date of an Oklahoma rally from June 19th, the date of the "Juneteenth" holiday, to June 20th out of respect for a day commemorating the end of U.S. slavery.

 

Amid protests against racial injustice, Trump had faced criticism for scheduling his first campaign rally in months on a day known by African Americans as Freedom Day and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city where white mobs massacred African-Americans a century ago.

 

“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,” Trump tweeted. "I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests."

 

Trump, seeking re-election on Nov. 3, scheduled the Tulsa rally on June 19th, the date in 1865 when Texas became the last of the pro-slavery Confederate states forced to comply with President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War declaring all people held as slaves free.

 

Tulsa, a city important in African-American history, in 1921 was the site of one of the bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence in U.S. history in which white mobs attacked black residents and businesses.

 

Referring to his rally, Trump told Fox News in an interview aired earlier on Friday: "Think about it as a celebration."

 

The Republican president suspended his political rallies in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump denied that scheduling the Tulsa rally on Juneteenth was deliberate.

 

The rally will take place against a backdrop of protests around the United States against racism and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The officer was fired and has been charged with second-degree murder.

 

Fox News interviewer Harris Faulkner, who is black, later said she was not sure whether Trump was aware of the painful history of Tulsa for African-Americans because her questions in the interview, held on Thursday, focused on the Juneteenth date of the rally.

 

"This isn't just a wink to white supremacists - he's throwing them a welcome home party," U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, a contender to be Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's vice presidential pick, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

 

Trump, who this week rejected calls to rename U.S. military bases named for Confederate military figures, said in the Fox News interview that what Lincoln had done was "questionable," but was cut off before he could elaborate.

 

"I think I've done more for the black community than any other president. And let's take a pass on Abraham Lincoln 'cause he did good, although it's always questionable. You know, in other words the end result," Trump said without explanation.

 

Faulkner then spoke over him saying: "But we are free, Mr. President. He did pretty well."

 

"We are free. You understand what I mean. I'm going to take a pass on Abe - Honest Abe as we call him," Trump responded.

 

Democrats and other critics have accused Trump of stoking racial divisions.

 

The president said during the Floyd protests in which looting occurred in some cities that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Trump told Fox News he was not aware that this phrase originated with a white segregationist who was Miami mayor in the 1960s.

 

On Thursday, the Republican Party scheduled Trump's speech to formally accept its presidential nomination for Aug. 27 in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

That day will mark the 60th anniversary of what is called "Ax Handle Saturday," when a white mob wielding ax handles began a riot over black youth attempting to order food from a whites-only lunch counter in Jacksonville.

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Lisa Lambert; additional reporting by Rich Mckay and Andrew Hay; Editing by Aurora Ellis, Will Dunham and Kim Coghill)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-13

 

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[Tug]

I call bs more likely pressure from other senators in trouble by trumps (at best) total disregard for people of color at worst a piece of meat for his base just wasent worth the disrespect 

[sirineou]

He is politically inept. A total failure to achieve any of his objectives. Unless of course his objective was to dismantle civil society.  

[Bluespunk]

57 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would shift the date of an Oklahoma rally from June 19th, the date of the "Juneteenth" holiday, to June 20th out of respect for a day commemorating the end of U.S. slavery.

trump caving in?

 

Hmm, he must be really worried about his chances in November. 

[ThreeEyedRaven]

The fella and the folks behind him are insensitive and clueless. Quotes a speech from a white segregationist without knowing where it came from (Yeah right!), picks a racially sensitive day for a rally and another one for the date he is to formally be nominated for the next election. I am stunned that African Americans can not see that Mr. Trump cares not one whit about their lives, knows nothing about their struggles and history but actually hates them all, and yet they still want to vote for him. Amazing.

[GinBoy2]

I'd guarantee you he had absolutely no clue the significance of the day.

 

The guy has no concept of any history of the date, or any knowledge of any history in point of fact.

 

The Donald is a self obsessed narcissist, the idea that he might care about the anniversary of freeing millions of slaves is farcical   

Edited June 13, 2020 by GinBoy2

[Sujo]

I hope the change in date was written with a sharpie.

[Dumbastheycome]

The sad reality is that Trump was  so self  delusional to  believe that his presence on that day in that location would  be to his  political advantage  !

 

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

The fella and the folks behind him are insensitive and clueless. Quotes a speech from a white segregationist without knowing where it came from (Yeah right!), picks a racially sensitive day for a rally and another one for the date he is to formally be nominated for the next election. I am stunned that African Americans can not see that Mr. Trump cares not one whit about their lives, knows nothing about their struggles and history but actually hates them all, and yet they still want to vote for him. Amazing.

The fact that anyone, but more so African Americans would vote for trump is more scary than trump himself.

  One way or another trump is going away. But they remain!! 

  The fact that trump is a snake oil salesman, and not even  a very good one at that ,should be abundantly clear to anyone with half a brain.

  When he sit there holding a bible and attempting to quote verse from   " two Corinthians" is laughable, and an indication that he really  has no idea what he is talking about , or ever read the bible. There is no "two Corinthians " in the bible , The quote is  from "Second Corinthians" and it pertains to  Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. (only one example from way tooo many)  he knew nothing about it, but his base knew nothing about it also , so he can sit there and say anything he like to them ,because anyone with half a brain would know, but half a brain would be a remarkable achievement for any of them. 

[Crazy Alex]

12 hours ago, sirineou said:

He is politically inept. A total failure to achieve any of his objectives. Unless of course his objective was to dismantle civil society.  

Yes of course, because we can see from the riots in the streets by Republicans and Trump supporters that Trump seeks to dismantle civil society. Oh wait a minute...

[mtls2005]

I'm surprised he caved. 

 

Maybe Diamond and Silk were able sway him?

 

 

[simple1]

12 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

The fella and the folks behind him are insensitive and clueless. Quotes a speech from a white segregationist without knowing where it came from (Yeah right!), picks a racially sensitive day for a rally and another one for the date he is to formally be nominated for the next election. I am stunned that African Americans can not see that Mr. Trump cares not one whit about their lives, knows nothing about their struggles and history but actually hates them all, and yet they still want to vote for him. Amazing.

Believe I'm correct Stephen Miller is heavily involved. A president having a white supremacist as a senior adviser paints an ugly scenario.

[bendejo]

The idea that DT was clueless of the date makes complete sense to me, I doubt he'd even heard of Juneteenth ("who knew?  Who knew!?").  And yes, I would guess someone like Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon came up with this.  Probably didn't pick Philadelphia, Mississippi* like Ronald Reagan did because it isn't a big enough town.

 

Regardless of this change of date out of respect it is not going to gain him a single African American vote.  His law and order clampdown is just preaching to the choir, he gains no voters, he'll keep hiring and firing campaign managers to no avail.  If his relationship with the military was tenuous (he's been insulting them since the 2016 campaign) it is now in shards. 

 

But as for the rally ok, pack 'em in and put them in the hands of god.

 

(*) not to be confused with much larger and better known Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

 

[The Barmbeker]

"...out of respect..."

Alex...I take "Stuff that never happened" for 500, please!

[metisdead]

A post with unattributed content has been removed.

 

An off topic trolling post has been removed. 

[mlmcleod]

Quote

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would shift the date of an Oklahoma rally from June 19th, the date of the "Juneteenth" holiday, to June 20th out of respect for a day commemorating the end of U.S. slavery.

 

Trump has absolutely no respect for African Americans and less than 7% voted for him in 2016 according to his press secretary Barbie.  However, he was forced to listen to fellow arch conservatives from the south who think they have a better chance to pick up African American votes.

 

Vote in November!

[earlinclaifornia]

 Bolton writes that he found every decision Trump made was centered on his reelection.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/politics/bolton-book-publishing-june/index.html

[metisdead]

Another post with unattributed content that was copy and pasted from some site has been removed.  Please include a valid link to the source of information when posting:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

[sirineou]

9 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

Yes of course, because we can see from the riots in the streets by Republicans and Trump supporters that Trump seeks to dismantle civil society. Oh wait a minute...

What??

[Tie Dye Samurai]

All you need to know about this is...Trump changed his rally out of "respect" for Juneteenth...the fact that he is so widely unpopular with the African Americans and the country at large that he can not have his rally on this day....no pun intended...speaks volumes of his capacity as a dividing force for that community and the country at large. He and his supporters represent to that community the very antithesis of Juneteenth.

Edited June 15, 2020 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[Foexie]

trump is such a respectful person. He have his heart and mind on the right place.

 

Hope he will stay for another 4y.

[metisdead]

An off topic post about the Atlanta incident has been removed, it was in violation of fair use policy as well. 

[stevenl]

6 hours ago, Foexie said:

trump is such a respectful person. He have his heart and mind on the right place.

 

Hope he will stay for another 4y.

So much so he teargasses peaceful protesters so he can hold a Bible for a photo op. That shows exactly where his heart is.

Edited June 15, 2020 by stevenl

[GalaxyMan]

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

So much so he teargasses peaceful protesters so he can hold a Bible for a photo op. That shows exactly where his heart is.

What heart? It's nothing but a lump of putrid coal. ????

[mtls2005]

Cases spiking in the Tulsa area.

 

Local health rules prohibit mass gatherings at least until the end of June.

 

Local health officials are asking/begging the trump campaign to cancel/reschedule this "rally".

 

Given all that, might cooler heads prevail?

 

And it gives everyone time to get rid of any ramps.

 

And someone get him a mug with a handle for pete's sake. Or a sippy cup.

 

 

[edwinchester]

"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,"

 

Total BS. Have a look at any Trump Rally, absolute zero black faces in the crowd.

[Mama Noodle]

14 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Cases spiking in the Tulsa area.

 

How very convenient ????

 

15 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Local health rules prohibit mass gatherings at least until the end of June.

 

Local health officials are asking/begging the trump campaign to cancel/reschedule this "rally".

 

Given all that, might cooler heads prevail?

 

No one gave a single turd about thousands across the USA gathering en-masse, gatherings that are still going on to this day, and hell, all you guys are cheering it on, but Trump wants to have a rally? 

OMG Cases spiking! Can not! Much Danger! Trump is trying to kill people!

 

????

[mtls2005]

6 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

OMG Cases spiking! Can not! Much Danger! Trump is trying to kill people!

 

Calm down, Unbunch your undergarments. Unclench your pearls.

 

I'm happy to defer to local health officials for their knowledge, guidance and expertise.

 

You, on the other hand seem to be relying on emotion?

 

Part of me is 100% behind having this rally go forward. Then my conscience kicks in and I worry about all the folks who might be negatively impacted.

 

Is a rally really necessary? If so, go for it.

 

 

 

 

[Mama Noodle]

7 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Calm down, Unbunch your undergarments. Unclench your pearls.

 

Im mocking you, which im sure you already know. 

 

8 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

I'm happy to defer to local health officials for their knowledge, guidance and expertise.

 

Which ironically and conveniently enough you guys and your liberal politicians were blatantly absent for during the last 2 weeks of riots and mass gatherings ????

 

And now you all of a sudden you need your fainting couch because Trump wants to have a rally. 

 

10 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Is a rally really necessary? If so, go for it.

 

No more or less necessary than the wholly supported and astroturfed riots and protests from the left over the last 2 weeks.

[metisdead]

A post using a video from an unapproved YouTube source has been removed.