November's US elections have probably been the least publicized ones yet. President Trump decided to go forward with his Tulsa campaign rally despite concerns during the pandemic. The campaign held in Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Center was far from filling the 19,000 seat arena, and Oklahoma is a Republican state.
Trump referred to those who attended as warriors and blamed the media and the protests for the low turnout. Black Lives Matter activist gathered outside the arena. In Trump's opening speech he referenced the people protesting outside by saying there were "bad people, doing bad things".
As low as the venue might have been it was still the largest indoor gathering in the uS after the outbreak. Oklahoma in particular is facing an increase in COVID-19 cases. In fact, six members of the staff's organization tested positive hours before the rally.
The President described coronavirus testing as a "double-edged sword". "Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases", "So I said 'slow the testing down". A White House official said the President was "obviously kidding" about the testing.