More details regarding the how and why behind the cancelation of Trump’s June 19 rally in Tulsa, OK, were published by the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender this week.
This time last year, stories were circulating that a black Secret Service agent had informed Trump of the real meaning of the holiday.
However, the new revelation was that the Secret Service agent also told Trump that the date and location of the rally were offensive to him.
The Rally
As most of you know, Juneteenth was the date when Texas recognized that slavery was officially over.
The name comes from the combination of June and the 19th, which is when General Granger made the announcement in Galveston, Texas.
Trump had planned a campaign rally on June 19, 2020, which drew immediate outrage.
The outrage was over both the site and date.
Between the date and Tulsa being the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921, Trump had two big strikes against him.
So, apparently, Trump reached out to a black member of his protection detail for a quick education on the true meaning of Juneteenth to see why everyone was so upset.
When Trump asked the agent about the day, according to Bender, he replied, “Yes, I know what it is, and it’s very offensive to me that you’re having this rally on Juneteenth.”
As well all now know, Trump postponed the rally so as not to offend anyone regarding Juneteenth and/or the site of the massacre.
It was also revealed that the Tulsa date and location were the brainchild of former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.
Bender wrote, “No one on Parscale’s team flagged that day—or that combination of time and place—as potentially problematic.”
At the time, many in the media and on the left thought that Trump was purposely thumbing his nose at the black community for choosing the date and location of this rally.
While still not necessarily a flattering report for Trump, it does belie the idea that he was doing this purposely to create waves and outrage.
At the same time, the report is not exactly helping the image of Brad Parscale.
Source: The Hill
