Today, one day after Juneteenth, the day which commemorates the freeing of the last slaves in America from bondage, Trump is holding his first campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since the beginning of the pandemic shut down in March. He originally planned to hold the rally on the actual date of the 1861 massacre of over 300 black Americans but moved the event by one day under the urging of his advisors. Undeterred by the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Tulsa area and around the country, Trump is giddy about performing for his fans and spreading more vile rhetoric to further divide the country.
No doubt, his speech will repeat the tired message that only he can make America great again. Is that slogan now an admission that after 3 1/2 of being president, he has failed at keeping that promise? Inevitably, he will also introduce his 2020 campaign moniker of him being the “law and order” president, which will surely rouse the crowd into cheers for their pseudo tough guy. How can any intelligent person think a president is strong when he orders the military to shoot tear gas at peaceful, law-abiding Americans, to build a wall around the White House, and to shelter him willingly into a bunker? If all Trump enthusiasts need to see a leader as strong is to have them be loud, crude, aggressive, large in size, and lawless, then they have found their man. However, more and more Americans are taking to the streets, and showing the real strength lies in what is good, right, and in the hands of the people.
Local Tulsa government officials have let Trump now they did not want him to hold his rally in their city. They cited concerns about the spiking number of coronavirus cases and the concern for the safety of its citizens. The Trump campaigned showed no respect or concern for the officials and the people of Tulsa. So the invasion of his followers into a town that they do not live in and may infect with COVID-19 is going to happen. This decision on Trump’s part is proof of his many psychological problems. To insist on holding an event that all medical experts say has the potential for the spread of infection, increased hospitalization cases, and deaths for vast numbers of people proves his narcissism and sociopathy. The narcissist cares only about himself and his interests, no matter the cost to others. The sociopathic personality will lie and manipulate people and events without empathy or concern for the potential or probable harm to others. How did mental abnormalities become acceptable for a U.S. President to have? Without the corrupt Senator Mitch McConnell and Attorney General William Barr supporting Trump’s assault on democracy and decency, these dangerous aberrations from normalcy would be tolerated by a moral Congress or the majority of Americans.
Journalists have had a difficult time covering a president as disordered as Trump. In one way, he makes news every day with his offense tweets, racist rhetoric, and anti-rule of law actions. However, by covering him, they are complicit in exposing millions of potentially impressionable Americans to his divisive, racist, autocratic, and criminal messages. An alternative to adding hundreds of thousands of people to the audience today to view this self-serving, dangerous rally spectacle, they could air highlights of it after it has occurred. Hopefully, despite journalist’s commitment to reporting the news as it happens, they will spare Americans from watching a president not wear a mask during a pandemic, not require his attendees to wear a mask and to socially distance to protect their health and that of others and to half-heartedly mention the Black Lives Movement and the fight against racial injustice. To not cover the rally would stop Trump’s success at making the press his puppet for garnering more attention for the fulfillment of his wounded ego.
