“I made Juneteenth very famous” – Trump over his initial campaign date

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In his interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, President Donald Trump said that he made “Juneteenth very famous” as he originally scheduled his campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on that date.
• Trump decided to move the event to June 20 out of respect for the June 19^th holiday which commemorates a day of honoring the 300 black people killed by White mob.
• He also defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the wide protests against racism across the country during the airtime.

Claiming that he made Juneteenth “very famous” for initially scheduling his campaign rally on that date, President Donald Trump defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the mass protests against racism in an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it,” Trump said.

Originally, the scheduled campaign rally of Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma was on June 19. On that date in 1921, a White mob brutally killed around 300 black people and burned black business establishments. After receiving backlash from the protests against racism and police brutality, Trump expressed courtesy and moved his rally to June 20.

“We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday,” the president tweeted on Friday.

“Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents. I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests.”

During the interview, Trump shared that he learned of the holiday’s significance from one of his black Secret Service agents. 

Pressed if he thinks that there is structural racism in the country’s economic and criminal justice systems, Trump said: “I’d like to think there is not, but unfortunately, there probably is some. I would also say it’s very substantially less than it used to be.”

Unlike the Juneteenth rally, Trump said he did not consult the sentiments of his black supporters or the Secret Service agent about changing the names of the 10 Army bases named after Confederate officers. He argued that the names were given as it is as a way of uniting the North and South.

During the interview, the president also defended his actions over visiting the St. John’s Episcopal Church earlier this month and said he didn’t go inside the church because of “insurance reasons” as the church was boarded up.

Trump also vowed that US will economically bounce back from the pandemic. “We will have created a lot of jobs prior to November 3,” he claimed.

He looked positive that building a strong economy was the solution for eradicating racism in the US.

Source: Fox News