Trump calls the protesters “thunderbolts” despite peaceful demonstrations in Tulsa and much of the United States
After the number of people at Saturday’s rally was smaller than initially expected, Trump thanked those who attended the event.
“You’re warriors. We had very bad people out there. They did bad things. But I really appreciate that,” Trump said.
The president later said there were “very bad people” out there, describing the protesters as “robbers”.
There were large groups of protesters in downtown Tulsa, near the rally site, police said, but they demonstrated peacefully.
Earlier, the Trump campaign blamed what they described as “radical protesters” for preventing people from entering the rally. Several CNN teams in Tulsa have not seen any such type of activity.
Crowds of protesters gathered in front of the Atlanta police station, and the woman sang “America Beautiful” as they waved a burning American flag.
In New York, protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan’s Foley Square as groups gathered in various parts of Washington, DC and near the White House.
A rally aimed at re-ruling Trump’s re-election candidacy was originally scheduled for Friday, June 16 – a day celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.
Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma told Fox News on Saturday that he expects Trump to talk about race, adding that “only the president can talk about that issue unlike any other American who can talk about that issue.”
“It would be important for the president to make a very clear statement that we are one people under God, indivisible,” Lankford said.
Both statewide protests and Trump’s Saturday rallies have raised concerns about the potential spread of the coronavirus.
Millions of Americans have taken to the streets across the country since the killings of Floyd and other African Americans by police.
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