By Ena Ofugara
It was to be his big comeback rally. They talked millions. Tulsa Oklahoma was a safe place. It was Trump country. It was the site where the biggest black economy, known as BLACK WALL STREET was destroyed by the KKK and honestly, REGULAR WHITE PEOPLE of that era. Blacks who had pulled themselves up by ther bootstraps and finally had a rich neighbourhood, were attacked and MASSACRED. Their businesses destroyed. The place that would have signaled black growth for centuries, razed to dust. IT IS TRUMP COUNTRY. What better demography than the culture that once massacred blacks. He beat Hillary Clinton by 30 points there. NO. His comeback should not be in a BATTLEGROUND STATE, it should be in and among a culture that was and is rich in WHITE SUPREMACY.
He knew the battle he was up against… Corona virus fears; science; black protesters who feel putting a rally on June 19, their day of freedom, was a slap on their face and history. Or maybe he did not. Or maybe, like HE DID CORONA VIRUS, he UNDERESTIMATED it
And so, boastfully, touting attendance in hundreds of thousands, talking about a million sign ups, spending money to build a stage outside the 19,000 seater hall, he and his veep prepared a speech for the crowd projected to be outside, the president went on a plane, expecting to have a TRIUMPHAL entry into Tulsa with crowds awaiting him.
Now, crowds are no indication of electoral victory. It is an indication of ENTHUSIASM and LOVE. Hillary clinton has crowds of 400 people to Trump’s 50 thousand. Yet she beat Trump in the popular vote by over 3 million people. It is the states without crowds, Republican/red states that gave Trump his collegiate victory. So crowds ought not be a big deal. Except that Trump has always made crowds a big deal. His far less than Obama crowds had him lying about his crowd being bigger. It occupied his whole early presidency. Joe Biden may not be able to fill speaking engagement halls of 10000 capacity. And yet Joe Biden is bookmaker’s favorite in this election. Again, not that bookmakers are always right as seen from Hillary Clinton’s electoral college loss to Trump.
But Trump made crowd and attendance a big deal. As the showman and Reality Tv King, his bet has always been that there are more people, “silent majority” he calls them, to whom he can do no wrong and who will follow him through corona virus threats, black and other minority hate, racism etc. He believed he could BEAT THE MEDIA, who he calls “enemies of the people”. TULSA was a chance to show that HE, TRUMP, was more believable than the media. He was more powerful than COVID 19 and COMMONSENSE. Black Lives Matter and history of blacks and their special weekend in Tulsa would all bow to him.
THEY DID NOT
Of the million tooted, only six thousand two hundred plus people attended. This is the official record of the FIREMEN who were in attendance to keep people safe. Thus, Trump could not fill even the hall, how much more outside watchers. They had to bring people together near the podium so TV and cameras can have people to film. The upper seats were empty.
And as usual, Trump blamed the pocket of protesters and the media. But he knew of these before boasting about hundreds of thousands of attendees.
So the questions are
1. Are Americans wising up to Trump and his charades? Is he losing support?
2. Do they believe corona virus and COVID 19 remain a threat despite Trump and his people disregarding it much?
3 Is Trump in electoral trouble?
Answer to number 3 would be yes, as the polls begin to show even more distance between he and Joe Biden than it did between he and Hillary. His opponent is a WHITEMAN with quite some history of supporting anti-black legislation like Bill Clinton’s CRIME BILL. The whitemen trust Joe Biden and the white women know him and do not fear him. The old people that used to always vote Republican are moving in droves to Joe Biden who is as old as they are and who they believe will not risk their lives as Corona Virus seems to target the old.
To number 2, obviously people expect a president to be better than PROTESTERS. Yet he chose a closed venue that would trap virus and spread it unlike protester who protest OUTSIDE. A president OUGHT BE BETTER THAN THE MOB. But Trump is not. But obviously, many of his supporters, ones who stayed home are.
And NO, protesters did not block anyone from entering.
And YES, while Trump was on stage, the campaign was begging people to come and attend
And NO they did NOT.
And so the outside speech was cancelled.
The inside speech was spent, not to unite the country and talk about paths to growth and bring back the economy, Black Lives and Floyd was not mentioned even once. June 19 and its significance to black history was avoided. The campaign speech was dedicated to defending his clear parkinson-like actions of inability to drink water with one hand, slow walking down a 3 inch slope that Joe Biden ran … physical ran up on in 2016.
Anyone in the medical field will have seen Parkinson disease patients who FAIL TO TAKE THEIR DOPAMINE and other drugs shake like that. And once taken, they go back to baseline functioning. In Trump’s case, ability to walk well and drink water with one hand as not be shaking and needing a second hand to push the bottom
But why is Trump’s health so important a topic for Trump? America has elected people in wheelchairs and sick people before. They elect the old knowing all the ailments, including Alzheimer, that the old could suffer from. Trump defends his health so much because he mocks the sick. His campaign is based on Joe Biden being too old and sick. There is nothing else to attack the MODERATE and gentlemanly and decent Joe Biden on. So he spends 9 minutes talking about why he shook and could not drink water with one hand.
Crowds are no indication of electoral victory. Trump made it a hill he is willing to die on. And so, right here, as shown in this picture, the spick and span Trump has his tie lose, MAGA hat off, look of defeat and despair on his face, sadness pervading, as he alights from Airforce one. He is PICTURE OF DEFEAT and perhaps ominous of things to come for him