Washington - President Donald Trump
defended his decision to resume campaign rallies next week on a
day marking the end of US slavery and at the site of a black
massacre 100 years ago, saying it would be a celebration.
The Republican president drew criticism for scheduling the
rally on June 19, known as Juneteenth, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where
white mobs attacked black citizens and businesses in one of the
country’s bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence.
The rally will take place amid a backdrop of widespread
protests against racism in the country after the death of a
46-year-old black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police
officer, who is accused of murdering him. Trump has been
criticized for trying to militarize the U.S. response to the
protests.
"Think about it as a celebration," Trump told Fox News in an
interview broadcast on Friday, in which he then boasted about
the size of his campaign rallies.
In the interview, Trump denied the Juneteenth date for the
rally was on purpose.
The Fox interviewer, an African American, later said she was
not sure if he was aware of the painful history of Tulsa to
black Americans because her questions in the interview, which
took place on Thursday, focused on the Juneteenth aspect of the
visit.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United
States in 1865 and is celebrated as African Americans’
Independence Day.
"This isn't just a wink to white supremacists - he's
throwing them a welcome home party,” Senator Kamala Harris, a
contender to be Joe Biden's vice presidential pick, said on
Twitter on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Republican Party scheduled Trump's speech
accepting the Republican presidential nomination in Jacksonville
on Aug. 27. That day will mark the 60th anniversary of what is
called "Ax Handle Saturday," when a white mob wielding ax
handles began a riot over black youth attempting to order food
from a whites-only lunch counter in the Florida city.