Stephen Miller is writing Trump's speech on racism? This is actually good news. Finally, before talking about something, Trump is going to consult a subject matter expert.
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) June 9, 2020
Good news: Somebody managed to talk the Squatter-in-Chief out of his Big Speech on Race. Possibly on the grounds that the lamestream Media would fail to present it properly (running a split screen of protestors willfully throwing themselves in front of police batons, or failing to insert the requisite applause loops after every big moment).
As a consolation, it’s been announced he gets to Resume His Ever-Popular Rallies. Starting with one on June 19th, Juneteenth, in the city known for the Greenwood Massacre, “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.”
On Juneteenth, Trump's going to hold a rally in a city that is the site of probably the largest incidence of white-on-black racist violence since the end of slavery. At a time when he's defending racist policing and, uh, the Confederacy. So that's neat. https://t.co/6GV8Ct6D0W
— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) June 10, 2020
Reagan in Philadelphia Mississippi=Trump in Tulsa on Jeneteenth https://t.co/7C4fBQtMi7
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 10, 2020
Some will no doubt argue that not one white person in a thousand has the vaguest idea of the meaning behind Juneteenth, but we can be sure that whoever chose the date (*cough* Steven Miller *cough*) knew exactly how offensive it would be — as will that loyal portion of Trump’s Base that constitutes the ‘very fine people’ who show up at Klan rallies.
In the NYTimes, Annie Karni:
President Trump will return to the campaign trail on June 19 with a rally in Tulsa, Okla., for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak forced most of the country into quarantine three months ago, a campaign official said Wednesday, as polls show former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. establishing a significant national lead over Mr. Trump and the president’s approval ratings plummeting.
Oklahoma, a deep-red state Mr. Trump won four years ago by 36 percentage points, began lifting restrictions on businesses on April 24 and moved into Phase 3 of its reopening on June 1, allowing summer camps to open and workplaces to return with full staffing levels.
Trump campaign officials are unlikely to put into place any social distancing measures for rally attendees, or require them to wear masks, people familiar with the decision-making process said, adding that it would be unnecessary because the state is so far along in its reopening.
Mr. Trump has also made it clear he doesn’t want to speak in front of gatherings that look empty because of social distancing, or to look out on a sea of covered faces as he tries to project a positive message about the country returning to normal life and the economy roaring back, even as his top health advisers have warned the pandemic is far from over. “Oh my goodness,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday. “Where is it going to end? We’re still at the beginning of it.”
Campaign officials said they were considering some modest attempts at reducing risk by providing hand sanitizer on site, but said no final decisions had been made about how to safely bring together a large group of people…
Mr. Trump will return to the campaign trail on Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States and celebrated as African-Americans’ Independence Day. After weeks of protests over the killing of George Floyd in police custody, protests and marches are already planned this year for the holiday in many states…
Repub Venality Open Thread: Trump to Attempt to Defile JuneteenthPost + Comments (139)