Donald Trump's Phoenix rally (June 2020)
.jpg) President Donald J. Trump delivering remarks at the "Students for Trump" Rally in Phoenix, Arizona | |
| Date | June 23, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Dream City Church |
| Location | Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Type | Rally |
| Organised by | Donald Trump |
| Participants | 3,000 |
U.S. President Donald Trump held a rally, nicknamed the "Students for Trump" Rally at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona on June 23, 2020.[1] The rally gained large attention for being held despite lower than expected turnout at his previous rally the day before, as well as being Trump's second rally held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Background and preparations[edit]
In preparation for the rally, as a result of a social media campaign that led to many people signing up for tickets, with no intention of showing up to Trump's previous rally in Tulsa, the event ditched online sign-ups and instead urged attendees to show up in person.[2]
Although Phoenix mandated mask-wearing in public at the time of the rally, the cities Mayor Kate Gallego, stated she would not enforce mask-wearing at the event. When asked by CNN Host Wolf Blitzer during an interview, she stated "Yes, the requirement is that everyone who is within six feet of other people be wearing a mask,” but also noted “Look, we’re not going to cite the president of the United States. But we would ask all other elected officials and every other type of leader to lead by example.”[3]
Organizers expected the rallies attendees, mostly young people, would comply with the cities mask-wearing order.[4] However, at the rally, few people were seen wearing masks.[5]
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Earlier in the day, ahead of their rally, Trump visited Yuma, Arizona and a nearby section of the US and Mexico Border Wall. Trump, as well as, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona Senator Martha McSally and Arizona 8th District Representative Debbie Lesko signed a plaque commemorating the 200th mile of new border wall, during this visit.[6]
Speech[edit]
—Trump on Fox News Ratings for coverage of his rally in Tulsa the previous night[7]
Trump spoke for about 90 minutes.[8] He opened the speech by touting Fox News ratings for coverage of his previous rally in Tulsa being the highest in the networks history for a Saturday night. He did not, however, address the low in-person turnout for the event, as he was reported to have been furious about it, following the rally.[9]
Attendance and viewership[edit]
The total attendance is estimated to have been around 3,000, as the Dream City Church's capacity is around the same, and it was filled for the event. The event venue was full, while at Trump's previous rally which was notable for its lower-than-expected turnout, the venue wasn't even half filled. However, the Dream City Church has a capacity smaller than the attendance was at Trump's previous rally in Tulsa, and there were few people directly outside the venue during the event.[10] Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. and a Trump campaign official, attended the event, and then tested positive for COVID-19 on July 3. She also attended Trumps Tulsa rally on June 20, and then traveled to, but did not attend, a Trump-related fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota (hours after testing positive).[11][12]
Air-purification scandal[edit]
In preparation for the Rally, Dream City Church installed CleanAir EXP air-purification units that it claimed "kills 99.9% of COVID within ten minutes". In a video shared by the church, senior pastor Luke Barnett said that "when you come into our auditorium, 99% of COVID is gone, killed, if it was even there in the first place."
The efficacy of this system had not been tested against COVID-19. Philip Tierno, a clinical professor of pathology at New York University, said that no system can protect someone against an infected person sneezing in the seat next to them. "When you are dealing with hundreds or thousands of people in an AUDITORIUM, some of whom will carry the virus you WILL NOT BE absolutely PROTECTED."[13] According to Jeffrey Siegal, professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto, "This thing is not going to do anything in terms of protecting people in that space."[14]
On June 23, 2020, the church deleted the video, and it posted a message saying the system does not eliminate COVID-19, but it can eliminate other types of viruses.[15]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "After Disappointing Tulsa Rally, Trump Touts Border Wall In Arizona Trip". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ Jankowicz, Mia. "The 'Students for Trump' campaign scrapped online registration for his next event after TikTok teens hijacked sign-ups for his Tulsa rally". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ Garcia, James E. (2020-06-23). "Phoenix mandates masks in public, but won't enforce use at Trump rally". Arizona Mirror. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ↑ Polletta, Andrew Oxford, Ronald J. Hansen and Maria. "Expect crowd to wear masks at Trump speech at Dream City Church in Phoenix, organizer says". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ "Opinion | How 'love thy neighbor' got trumped by calls to 'love thy president'". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ↑ "President Trump, Arizona officials sign border wall during Yuma visit". KNXV. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ Remarks by President Trump at a Turning Point Action Address to Young Americans, June 23, 2020, retrieved June 25, 2020
- ↑ Shear, Michael D.; Kanno-Youngs, Zolan (2020-06-23). "In Arizona, Trump Boasts About His Wall and Repeats Unfounded Predictions of Voter Fraud". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ↑ "Trump 'furious' about low Tulsa turnout". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ↑ Dwilson, Stephanie Dube (2020-06-24). "Trump's Phoenix Rally Packs 3,000-Capacity Church: See Crowd Photos". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ↑ Haberman, Maggie (July 4, 2020). "Kimberly Guilfoyle, fundraising official for Trump campaign and Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, tests positive for COVID-19". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Alba, Monica; Alexander, Peter (July 3, 2020). "Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump campaign official and girlfriend of president's son, tests positive for coronavirus". NBC News. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Stern, Ray (June 22, 2020). "Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System". Phoenix New Times.
- ↑ Stern, Ray (2020-06-22). "Phoenix Megachurch Hosting Trump Rally Says It Has Special Coronavirus-Killing Air System". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ↑ McLaughlin, Kelly (June 24, 2020). "A megachurch in Arizona that hosted Trump this week falsely claimed that its air filtration system could kill '99% of COVID in 10 minutes'". Insider.
External links[edit]
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- 2020 in Arizona
- 21st century in Phoenix, Arizona
- Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election
- Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
- June 2020 events in the United States
- Presidency of Donald Trump
- Republican Party (United States) events in Arizona
- Speeches by Donald Trump
- Trump administration controversies
