After Backlash, Trump Reschedules Juneteenth Rally In Tulsa

In a tweet late Friday night, Trump said he decided to change the date “out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents.”

The rally, which will be his first since he stopped campaigning during the coronavirus pandemic, will now be held in Tulsa on June 20.

Trump faced criticism for the original date because the rally would be held on Juneteenth in Tulsa, the site of a massacre where a white mob destroyed the prospering “Black Wall Street” neighborhood, a thriving community made up of more than 300 black-owned businesses and killed as many as 300 people

Critics, including Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), said the event would be akin to throwing white supremacists a “welcome home party” due to Trump’s past remarks on race and his aggressive response to demonstrators protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany initially defended the rally on Thursday, saying “it’s a meaningful day to him, and it’s a day where he wants to share some of the progress that’s been made as we look forward and more that needs to be done.”