Donald Trump says 'thugs' in Tulsa stopped thousands attending his comeback rally, praises 'warriors' in the arena who braved coronavirus fears, tears into Seattle 'anarchists' and calls Joe Biden's career 'four decades of calamity'
President Donald Trump kicked off his first rally in nearly four months by thanking the supporters who showed up and launching an array of attacks against his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
'You are warriors. Thank you,' Trump told the cheering crowd even as cameras showed empty blue seats available in the 19,000 seat BOK Center.
Saturday night marked Trump's return to the trail since campaigning was sidelined by the coronavirus crisis and since Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Polls show Biden leading Trump in their match up as voters give the president low marks for his handling of the pandemic and for his response to race relations after the death of George Floyd.
It was painted as the event that would reset the Trump campaign, bring the president back up in the polls, and let Trump enjoy the cheers of supporters - the kind of energy he craves and thrives off of.
But the BOK Center was marked by row after row of empty seats and a scheduled stop for the president for the outside overflow area had to be canceled after the expected crowds didn't appear.
'There's still space!' the campaign texted supporters before Trump took the stage. After the rally was over the campaign argued that 4 million people watched it online, calling it an audience Biden 'can only dream of.'
The president and his team had a variety of reasons for the lack of a crowd, including media reports on the rising number of coronavirus cases in Oklahoma and protesters outside of arena, claiming they blocked the security lines so people could not get inside.
'I have been watching the fake news for weeks now. And everything is negative,' Trump said in his remarks.
'We had some very bad people outside. They were doing bad things. But I really do appreciate it,' he told those who showed up.
'You saw these thugs that came along,' Trump complained of the peaceful demonstrators outside the BOK Center, many of whom wore 'Black Lives Matters' t-shirts.
President Donald Trump kicked off his campaign rally by thanking the supporters who showed up after cameras showed empty seats in the BOK Center
The floor area surrounding the stage where Trump will speak was only half filled - it is usually packed at Trump rallies - and empty seats were in the stands
President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he enters the BOK Center for his first campaign rally since March
Supporters cheer on President Trump at his rally
Empty seats are visible in the BOK Center as President Trump waves to the crowd at his rally
'Black Lives Matter' protesters were outside of President Trump's rally
Protesters fill a street after President Donald Trump's campaign rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa
Tulsa Police officers arrive with pepper balls as they confront protesters near President Donald Trump's campaign rally
President Trump boards Air Force One after his rally to return to Washington D.C.
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington early Sunday after stepping off Marine One as he returns from a campaign rally in Tulsa
President Donald Trump steps off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington
In his nearly 1 hour and 41 minute speech, Trump railed against his rival 'Sleepy Joe' and claimed he was controlled by the 'radical left.' His speech painted a fearful picture of life in America under a President Joe Biden, where people wouldn't be able to own a gun or go to church, and where mob rule would be a way of life.
His speech also contained the kind of political red meat his supporters like to hear: his support for a strong military, his criticism of protesters tearing down statues of Confederate Army officers, his demand that other nations stop 'ripping off' the United States, and his call for people who burn the American flag to serve one year in jail.
He also defended his record in two areas that voters have given him low marks: his handling of race relations and his response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 119,000 Americans.
'You are so lucky I'm president,' he told the crowd.
He claimed he's done more for Black Americans than Biden.
'I have done more for the black community in four years than Joe Biden has done in 47 years,' he said. 'Racial justice begins with Joe Biden's retirement from public life.'
But he made no mention of Juneteenth, the date marking the end of slavery, which was the day before his rally.
Instead, Trump bragged about his tough stance on the protests that sprung up across the country after Floyd died. The president had called on mayors and governors to bring out the National Guard against the demonstrators. He labeled himself the 'law and order president.'
'We are the party Abraham and we are the party of law and order,' he told the crowd.
He tied the protests to the 'radical left.'
'No president or administration has done more in the first 3 1/2 years than the Trump administration. Not even close. Our incredible success in rebuilding America stands in shark contrast to the extremism and destruction and violence of the radical left. We just saw it outside. You saw these thugs they came along. They call them protesters,' he said.
He claimed the protesters – many of whom were peaceful – were Democrats who destroyed businesses and hurt cops.
'Let's see what radical far left Democrats will do to our country. But Americans have watched left-wing radicals burn down buildings, loot businesses, destroy private property, injure hundreds of dedicated police officers. The police officers get injured. They don't complain. They are incredible. And injure thousands upon thousands of people only to hear the radical fake news say what a beautiful rally it was,' he said.
He specifically mentioned Seattle - which has been a repeated target of his wrath - for its handling of the protests.
'The Seattle Democrat mayor and the Seattle democracy council surrendered control of six city blocks - they are anarchists, they are not protesters,' Trump said.
And he accused them of vandalizing history by tearing down statues, many of which were of officers who served in the Confederate Army.
'The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our beautiful monuments. Tear down our statues,' he said.
He also claimed his response to the coronavirus pandemic saved lives and again referred to it by his derisive moniker the 'China virus.'
'You don't hear them talking about covid. Covid. To be specific covid-19. That name gets further and further away from China as opposed to calling it the Chinese virus. Despite the fact that we, I have done a phenomenal job. I shut down the United States to heavily infected people from China in late January which is months earlier than the other people would have done it if they would have done it at all. I saved hundreds of thousands of lives,' Trump bragged.
He also described the disease by the racist term 'kung flu.'
'It's a disease without question that has more names than any disease in history,' he complained. 'I can name kung flu. I can name 19 different versions of names. Many call it a virus which it is. Many call it a flu. I think we have 19 or 20 versions of the name.'
But he also repeated his complaint that increased testing increases the reported numbers of people with the virus.
'Testing is a double-edged sword,' Trump said.
He also claimed he told staff to slow down on testing the coronavirus because it was increasing the numbers of infections.
'They called me and said the job you are doing - here is the bad part. When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases. So I said slow the testing down,' he said.
He called on schools to be reopened. The president has pushed the country to reopen as he is banking his re-election campaign on a strong economy.
His handling of the economy is one of the few areas where the president wins high remarks for his performance and the rally was billed as a 'great American comeback.'
In his remarks, Trump painted the November election as a choice between himself and Joe Biden, who he claimed his controlled by the radical left.
'The choice in 2020 is very simple. Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?' he said.
He attacked Biden multiple times.
'Joe Biden and the Democrats want to prosecute Americans for going to church. But not for burning a church. They believe you can riot, vandalize and destroy, but you cannot attend a peaceful pro America rally,' he said.
He also threw out several attack lines at Biden, many of which he's used before, including claiming Biden was hiding in his basement, questioning the former vice president's health, and claiming that Biden's policies will destroy the economy.
But he also threw out new lines of attack at the man he will face on the November ballot.
'Joe Biden's record could be summed up as four decades of betrayal, calamity and he never did anything. He was a senator and vice president,' Trump said.
'Biden is always on the wrong side of history,' he noted.
'When the chips are down Biden will always cave to the radical left, he will always bow to the angry mob, and he will never protect you and your family. And you know that. Joe Biden will always let you down,' he said.
He warned people of a bleak life they would face under a Biden presidency.
Trump's speech contained several attacks on Joe Biden; it was his first campaign rally since Biden became the presumptive Dem nominee
'They will expel anybody who disagrees them. You use a term they don't like and they are not happy with it. They call you a racist. They call you a horrible person. They don't want religion,' he said of the Democrats.
Trump claimed Biden, who has a long record as a moderate Democrat, as controlled by the 'radical left.'
'Joe Biden is not the leader of his party, Joe Biden is a helpless puppet of the radical left. And he's not radical left. I don't think he knows what he is any more. He was never radical left. But now he's controlled by the radical left,' Trump said.
He tied Biden to some of the most famous liberal names in the Democratic Party: Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.
'He installed socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be in charge of his environmental policy as his energy - you can forget petroleum. How does Oklahoma feel about being petroleum free? Not good, right?' he said.
And then he turned to Omar, one of few Muslim-American women in Congress: 'Ilhan Omar is going to be have much involved in a Biden government. They will put the hate-filled America bashing socialist front and center in deciding the fate of our family and deciding the fate of your country. I don't think so. She would like to make the government our country just like the country from where she came. Somalia. No government, no safety, no police. No nothing. Just anarchy. And now she is telling us how to run our country. No, thank you.'
He also tied Biden to Beto O'Rourke, who called for a mandatory buyback of all assault weapons.
'They want to take away your guns and your second amendment as sure as you are sitting there. You can even put the big gun grabber, Beto O'Rourke who made a fool of himself when he ran for president. They put him in charge of guns. Hopefully it won't matter,' he said.
He also claimed Biden is a 'puppet' for China and made a passing reference to Hunter Biden's ties to China.
'Biden is a puppet for China. His son walked out with $1.5 billion,' he said.
President Trump spent more than 10 minutes of his rally talking about his speech at West Point, lifting his shoe to explain that it was the reason he had trouble walking down the ramp after his commencement address
Trump even gave a mocking performance of his walk
Saturday's rally in Tulsa marked Trump's return to the campaign trail
A young supporter wears a 'Trump 2020' face mask at Saturday's rally
A supporter of President Donald Trump in the crowd wears a shirt reading 'It's OK To Be White'
President Donald Trump lands in Tulsa for a rally intended to reset his re-election bid
Air Force One with flies over the Tulsa arena where President Trump will speak
Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma hugs President Donald Trump as he arrives at Tulsa International Airport
The Trump campaign said a million people requested tickets for the president's rally but there were many empty seats in the BOK Center
'There's still space,' the Trump campaign texted supporters who signed up for the Tulsa rally
Police surround protesters outside the arena where President Trump was speaking
Before the rally began, the president told Fox News that he lost political momentum because of having to stay inside due to the coronavirus.
'He acknowledged that lot of the momentum has been lost because he has been sitting in the White House for three months. He wanted to be out here tonight saying we have done the best we can with the coronavirus,' Fox News' John Roberts reported, saying he spoke to the president before the rally started.
The rally was designed by the campaign to reboot for the Trump 2020 campaign.
'Today is the start of a new chapter and a brand new campaign for President Trump,' Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign adviser and girlfriend to Donald Trump Jr., said in her opening remarks.
'The great American comeback has begun and President Trump is leading the way,' Vice President Mike Pence told the crowd ahead of President Trump's remarks.
Trump's last rally was March 2 and the country looked vastly different. The economy was strong with the unemployment rate at about 3.5 per cent. The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. was estimated at 91.
Now, the unemployment rate stands at 13.3 per cent and the number of coronavirus cases stands at about 2.2 million. More than 119,000 people have died.
Pence warmed up the crowd by offering his own line of attacks on Biden, portraying him as a liberal who will cost the country jobs and touted President Trump's accomplishments.
'Joe Biden will cost America jobs,' the vice president said as the crowd shouted 'Sleepy Joe, Sleepy Joe,' which is Trump's nickname for Biden.
Ahead of the rally, Trump's campaign canceled the president's scheduled speech to the overflow crowd outside after the supporters failed to materialize and 'radical protesters' were blamed for their absence.
An outdoor stage had been set up to accommodate the thousands who would not be able to fit inside the BOK Center. The Trump campaign said they had a million requests for tickets. Any one from anywhere can request a ticket online.
But the area outside the arena - six blocks were blocked off by police for the expected crowds - was devoid of people. Both Trump and Pence's scheduled speeches were canceled by the campaign.
And the outdoor stage was being torn down before Trump took the stage inside.
The Trump campaign, after the rally was over, touted its large online audience.
'President Trump’s rally in Tulsa attracted over 4 million unique viewers across all of the campaign’s digital media channels. The live-streamed pre-rally shows drew an audience of more than 2.5 million unique viewers by themselves. These numbers don’t even include television viewers. The news media, which encouraged protesters and bombarded Americans for more than a week with dire warnings against attending a Trump rally, are still unable to prevent President Trump from reaching the people. These numbers represent unmatched enthusiasm behind the President’s re-election and a massive audience that Joe Biden can only dream of,' Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.
The Trump campaign blamed the protesters for the lack of a crowd.
'Sadly, protesters interfered with supporters, even blocking access to the metal detectors, which prevented people from entering the rally. Radical protesters, coupled with a relentless onslaught from the media, attempted to frighten off the President's supporters. We are proud of the thousands who stuck it out,' Murtaugh said.
Additionally, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, who was in charge of planning and implementing the rally, took to Twitter to blame the 'radical protesters' for the empty seats.
'Radical protestors, fueled by a week of apocalyptic media coverage, interfered with @realDonaldTrump supporters at the rally. They even blocked access to the metal detectors, preventing people from entering. Thanks to the 1,000s who made it anyway!,' he wrote.
Empty seats were seen inside the BOK Center too as the rally began with an opening round of speakers, including Eric and Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Diamond and Silk
Trump promised a great night before he left for Oklahoma.
'The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable. The crowds are unbelievable. They haven't seen anything like it. We will go there now. We'll give a hopefully good speech, see a lot of great people, a lot of great friends,' he told reporters at the White House before he left for the event.
National Guards form a line in front of 'Black Lives Matter' protesters outside of the arena where Trump held his campaign rally
Vice President Mike Pence warmed up the crowd ahead of President Trump's remarks
Empty seats were seen in the BOK Center, which holds 19,000 people; although the campaign handed out face masks, few people were seen wearing them
Eric Trump throws hats to the crowd at the president's rally in Tulsa
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, wearing a face mask watches as people enter the BOK Center for the rally
The rally was plagued by problems and criticism before it started. Six members of the advance team - the staff that arrive on the ground weeks ahead of time to set up the arena and take care of logistics - tested positive for COVID-19.
'No COVID-positive staffers or anyone in immediate contact will be at today's rally or near attendees and elected officials,' said Murtaugh.
Two of the six were reportedly Secret Service agents.
Oklahoma has seen a spike in coronavirus cases as the state moved through the re-opening process. It is one of the state's furthest along - in stage three - which is one of the reasons it was picked for Trump's comeback event. On Saturday, 331 new cases were recorded. Oklahoma set a new state record for COVID-19 increases in a single day on Thursday, confirming 450 new infections. The state has more than 10,000 cases.
Protesters mingled with Trump supporters outside the BOK Center but there were no reports of violence. Trump issued a veiled threat via Twitter on Friday, warning protesters they would be dealt with in a harsh matter.
Many of the demonstrators wore t-shirts or carried signs expressing their support for the Black Lives Matters movement, the protests that sprung up around the country after Floyd died.
The majority of Trump supporters at the event are white.
Members of the Oklahoma National Guard and law enforcement officers were in the secure area around the center. Inside that space, Trump supporters sold campaign merchandise. Some supporters had camped out overnight to make sure they got inside to hear the president.
Trump was ready to get back out on the trail.
'We have to get back to living our lives' Trump told Axios on Friday, adding 'we're going to have a wild evening tomorrow night at Oklahoma.'
The rising number of coronavirus cases raised safety questions ahead of the event.
Attendees had their temperature checked before they went inside as they went through the security line. The campaign handed out face masks but few people inside the BOK Center appeared to be wearing one.
Most donned red 'Make America Great Again' caps or 'Keep America Great' caps and t-shirts expressing their support for the president.
Lynnette Hardaway, left, and Rochelle Richardson, known as Diamond and Silk, also addressed supporter
MyPillow founder Michael J. Lindell (left) greets people before the start of the campaign rally
The Trump campaign emphasized the safety measures put in place for the rally, including having temperature checks done before people were let inside
Counselor to the President Hope Hicks (left) walks with White House social media director Dan Scavino (right) to board Air Force One with President Trump
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was spotted in the stands wearing one. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who's traveling to the event, said at her briefing on Friday she would not be wearing one, pointing out she is tested for the coronavirus regularly and that it's a personal choice for those attending.
Asked about whether people attending the rally should wear face coverings, as is now recommended by the CDC, Trump told Axios: 'I recommend people do what they want.'
Trump, who has been loath to appear publicly in a mask, said he has no intention of wearing a mask at the rally.
'I don't feel that I'm in danger,' he said. 'I've met a lot, a lot of people, and so far here I sit.'
'You know, there was a time when people thought it was worse wearing a mask,' he said, referring to earlier guidance from the CDC saying that the general public should not wear masks. 'I let people make up their own decision.'
Trump's rally has been deeply problematic ever since it was announced on June 10.
It survived a lawsuit by local residents and businesses which tried to get it shut down, citing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Local health officials also recommended it be postponed, to no avail.
The original date of Friday, June 19, was switched to Saturday after an uproar about the clash with Juneteenth - the annual celebration marking the end of slavery.
The anger at the date - which takes place on the holiday celebrating the end of slavery - meant that the rally got off to a bad start. Critics pointed to the Trump's administration handling of protests that sprung up around the country in the wake of George Floyd's death.
Tulsa was the site of one of the country's bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence in 1921. Called the Tulsa Race Massacre, as many as 300 people were killed, more than 10,000 remained homeless, and, according to the Tulsa Race Riot Report of 2001, an estimated $1,470,711 was incurred in damage - equal to about $20 million today.
Trump has show some insensitivity on race relations. He also bragged he made 'Juneteenth very famous' in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He also admitted he learned about it from a black Secret Service agent and was surprised to hear the White House had put out a statement on the holiday last year.
'I made it famous. I made Juneteenth very famous,' he told the newspaper. 'It's actually an important event, it's an important time. But nobody had heard of it. Very few people have heard of it. Actually, a young African-American Secret Service agent knew what it was. I had political people who had no idea.'
Eric and Lara Trump helped warm up the crowd ahead of Trump's Tulsa rally
The Baby Trump blimp, a symbol used by Trump protesters, was sighted
Scott Hilliard, left, argues with Black Lives Matter protester Eugene Smith ahead of President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa
Black Lives Matter protesters are stopped by police at the entrance to the
Donald Trump says 'thugs' in Tulsa stopped thousands attending his comeback rally, praises 'warriors' in the arena who braved coronavirus fears, tears into Seattle 'anarchists' and calls Joe Biden's career 'four decades of calamity'
![Donald Trump says 'thugs' in Tulsa stopped thousands attending his comeback rally, praises 'warriors' in the arena who braved coronavirus fears, tears into Seattle 'anarchists' and calls Joe Biden's career 'four decades of calamity']()
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