Report: Crowd Camping Out For Trump Rally Include Many Over 65, As Coronavirus Fears Increase

TOPLINE

Many members of the crowd camping outside a venue set to host President Donald Trump’s first rally since the coronavirus pandemic began is made up of people over the age of 65, according to a report—adding concern that a vulnerable population may be putting their health at risk in a city that has become one of the nation’s new epicenters of the coronavirus.

KEY FACTS

CHIEF CRITICS

In a statement Tuesday, Republican Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynym said, “I don’t like to be the first to try anything. I would have loved some other city to have proven the safety of such an event already.”

Some residents and businesses also recently brought a lawsuit aiming to make the Trump campaign enforce social distancing guidelines at the rally, but a judge threw out the case.

KEY BACKGROUND

The CDC warns that people over the age of 65 are at more serious risk of developing complications from the coronavirus, while many health officials have urged people in that demographic to continue staying home as much as possible. Trump himself is part of this demographic, having just turned 74, though he has refused to be seen wearing a mask in public.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The rally is expected to draw a far larger crowd than the BOK Center can handle, and areas are being set up to handle an overflow crowd. Axios reports that the campaign intends to turn the event into “a massive pro-Trump festival complete with musical acts.”

TANGENT

Trump originally planned to hold the rally on Friday, which coincided with Juneteenth, before deciding to move the date to Saturday. Protests are expected to take place in cities across the country on Friday to mark Juneteenth and to speak out against police brutality and systematic racism against the Black community.

FURTHER READING

Senior Trump official warns people at ‘high risk’ for coronavirus not to attend rally (The Guardian)

Coronavirus Cases Skyrocketing In Tulsa Days Before Trump Rally (Forbes)

Exclusive: Trump plots virus-era, made-for-TV mass festival (Axios)

After Backlash, Trump Reschedules Juneteenth Rally In Tulsa (Forbes)