Day 1,248: To half-empty Tulsa arena, Trump brags about hindering coronavirus testing, gives 12 excuses for plodding down West Point ramp
In the middle of a pandemic he seems hell-bent on ignoring, Donald Trump held his first political rally in months on Saturday. Ignoring concerns about social distancing and mask-wearing, Trump regaled the Tulsa, Oklahoma crowd with tangents and stories. The event was circled by his team as a way to jump start his 2020 reelection campaign.
Instead, it was bizarre.
Trump and his team bragged about having over one million ticket requests for the event. Instead, the campaign had to cancel for lack of attendance a speaking event at an overflow area where Trump and Mike Pence were set to appear. Inside, the arena was only half-filled.
When Trump took the podium, he went on a diatribe about his infamous struggle to walk down a simple ramp at West Point’s graduation ceremony. Trump spent literally 1/8th of his speech trying to explain away his awkward gait.
For his trudge, Trump blamed: 1) fatigue from saluting, 2) a long day, 3) a high stage, 4) the length of the ramp, 5) his shoes, 6) the material of the ramp, 7) the lack of handrails, 8) the slipperiness of the ramp, 9) his speech, 10) other speeches, 11) the sun and 12) the steepness of the ramp.
Trump’s story indicated a long discussion with the general walking next to him and running down the last 10 feet of the ramp. The video revealed neither a lengthy conversation nor a 10-foot run.
Indicating just how low the bar has gotten, Trump also drew “four more years” cheers in response to drinking a glass of water with one hand before chucking it across the stage.
In a moment that is certain to make the rounds in campaign ads, and couldn’t be a worse admission as more than 120,000 people have died from the disease in the U.S., Trump bragged about hindering coronavirus testing to keep numbers artificially low.
Trump added more of his usual bombast to the balance of the event. Rambling that left the crowd confused, boasting about the new TVs he added to Air Force One, plenty of racist dog-whistling — including referring to COVID-19 as “Kung Flu” — and generally yelling about issues that he swore he was going to fix in 2016.
Trying to re-energize his 2020 campaign, Tulsa’s visit fell very flat.
1,248 days in, 214 to go
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