Trump finds campaign platforms in Tulsa but not expected crowd

Text by: RFI Follow

Ignoring the warnings on the coronavirus, Donald Trump renewed this Saturday evening June 20 with the meetings which he loves. But the crowd expected in Tulsa to give a boost to a badly launched re-election campaign was not there.

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Assuring himself to be in a brilliant form, the American president attacked with virulence with his democratic adversary Joe Biden , described as “  puppet  ” at the same time of “  the radical left  ” and of China , and presented as a politician n ' having "  never done anything  " in a half-century career in Washington.

In a rambling speech of almost two hours, Donald Trump posed as a defender of "  law and order  " and called on the Americans to go to the polls on November 3 to secure a second four-year term.

But the room which was to consecrate this return in fanfare was not full, far from it. And the many rows of empty seats did not contribute to the image of a candidate who knew how to find a second wind.

Its campaign manager, Brad Parscale, admitted that the figures were below expectations, naming "  radical protesters  " and "  a week of apocalyptic media coverage  " responsible.

Donald Trump in a meeting in Tulsa: "You are warriors"

A first brief speech by the president, initially scheduled outside the room for the unlucky ones who would not have access to it, was canceled at the last minute. On Monday, Donald Trump said in a tweet that "  nearly a million  " people had requested tickets for this meeting.

"If there is a problem, I will tell you"

Trying to find the tone of the meetings that played a central role in his surprise victory of 2016, the 74-year-old American president assured that he was, unlike his 77-year-old opponent, in great physical shape. "  If there is a problem, I will tell you  ," he said, returning at length to a ceremony at the prestigious West Point Military Academy, in which he appeared to be showing signs of fatigue.

"  There is something wrong with (Joe) Biden, I can tell you that,  " he added. Despite his campaign muted by containment, the former vice president of Barack Obama recently took off in the polls before Donald Trump.

"Slow down screening"

In front of a room where few of his supporters wore protective masks, he vigorously defended his decisions against the Covid-19, which he again called "  Chinese virus  ". "  I have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but no one ever praises our work,  " he said.

The president of the first world power estimated that the tests were "  a double-edged sword  ": "  When we do this volume of screening, we find more people, we find more cases  ". And in the process, he added in an apparently ironic tone: "  So I said," Slow down the screening. "  "

President Trump on coronavirus testing: “I said to my people, slow the testing down, please." Pic.twitter.com/d2nrpxYyzw

"  He was obviously joking to denounce the absurd media coverage  ," then told AFP a White House official, on condition of anonymity.

A few hours before the rally began, six members of his campaign team tested positive for Covid-19 and were placed in quarantine. According to the Trump campaign team, the temperature of all members of the public was taken at the entrance and masks and disinfectant gel systematically offered.

The first meeting of the Republican President since the end of his campaign on the ground, struck by the Covid-19 pandemic in early March, sparked a lively controversy, with many worried about the health consequences of such a crowd from all of the United States. So far relatively spared, Oklahoma is currently experiencing a strong surge in detected cases.

A thousand anti-racist demonstrators

Between "Trumpists" and anti-racism protesters, local authorities had said they expected up to 100,000 people in Tulsa, in this conservative state in the southern United States, all committed to its cause. Shouting slogans against Donald Trump and racism, some 1,000 protesters marched to the meeting hall.

Another major subject of controversy, the choice of Donald Trump to organize his great return around the commemorations of the end of slavery , and in a city still marked by one of the worst racial massacres in American history, the murder of some 300 African-Americans by a white crowd, in 1921. A "  real slap  ", according to the local leader of the movement "Black Lives Matter", which organized a small rally before the meeting in a city park.

In the midst of a historic movement of anger against racism and police violence, Donald Trump had initially chosen to organize his meeting on June 19 or "Juneteenth", a date commemorating the emancipation of the last slaves in the United States. Before the scandal, he postponed it until the next day .

► Read also: United States: justice authorizes the release of John Bolton's book against Trump

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• United States
• Donald trump
• Joe Biden

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