Trump with public meeting in Tulsa a guffaw of racism
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It is clear for Donald Trump and his rallies. The election campaign in the USA has definitely started. Many are reacting to Donald Trump choosing to move the first public meeting to Tulsa. The town where blacks were subjected to a massacre on 31 May 1921 and 300 died. The choice of city and time provokes many.
People’s meeting with great importance for Trump
The arena that Trump clearly masters best is the public meetings where he can speak freely to his congregation without a script. The plebiscites were decisive in the presidential election 4 years ago and Trump hopes that the plebiscites can reverse the trend in the opinion polls which do not give him 4 more years in the “White House”.
Trump desperately needs to get on the offensive. He would like to take the focus away from the criticism of how he has handled the Corona pandemic, focus away from high unemployment, large national debt, constant conflicts with China and last but not least take the focus away from the issues of racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
The choice of Tulsa as the location for the first public meeting will hardly dampen criticism of his handling of racism in American society. On the contrary. The choice of Tulsa will probably sharpen the dividing lines.
A whiff of racism
To me it seems like an outpouring of racism in the choice of location. Actually, the meeting was supposed to be 19 June, but was postponed 1 day after criticism that the meeting was planned on the day when slavery was abolished in 1865. Imagine what a signal it would have been for the president to hold a public meeting in the city with a recent history of racial massacre, on the very day when people celebrated the end of slavery.
To me, it seems like a proven choice of Trump. He hardly showed that George Floyd would die and could not foresee the strong reactions it has caused. But he showed about the past of Tulsa and showed about the marking of the end of slavery.
Fortunately, he moved the public meeting one day, so that it would not clash with the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It was something he really had to do, otherwise things could quickly look very ugly.
[tulsa name=”TulsaOklahoma” id=”6″]
Plays on right-wing extremist sentiments
Throughout his term as president, Donald Trump has played on the feelings of his core voters, who are often far to the right politically. We saw that he played on such emotions even before he became president. An example of that was when he claimed that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He passed on conspiracy theories put forward by circles on the extreme right wing.
Throughout his presidency, there are constant small drips that play out under racist attitudes. Such drips are like music to the ears of his core voters, but are hardly a medicine to rally the American people.
Sources:
ABC News: Trump moves public meeting in Tulsa after cabinet criticism