(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Want to come see Donald Trump next week in Tulsa, Oklahoma? No problem! You don’t even need a mask when you and 19,000 of your fellow Trump supporters pack into the BOK Center to scream your lungs out in support of our nation’s 45th president.
Oh, but before you come in, you’ll need to sign this little waiver. Just promise not to sue the Trump campaign or the venue if you happen to catch coronavirus at this potential superspreader event, and you’ll be all set to get your tickets.
By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.
Leave aside the appalling symbolism of hosting a rally in Tulsa, the site of a 1921 massacre of 300 African Americans, on June 19, AKA Juneteenth, the day Americans celebrate the official emancipation of slaves in this country.
Neither the campaign nor the venue seems to be taking any precautions as they resume in-person events during a viral pandemic that has already killed 115,000 Americans.
“I can’t have a rally with, you know, seven seats in between everybody,” Trump scoffed at suggestions he take health and safety precautions at his campaign events. Which is par for the course from a politician who refused to wear a mask when he toured a factory in Maine last week, forcing the facility to discard thousands of coronavirus testing swabs. He’s also nixed social distancing measures at the White House, rearranging the chairs to pack reporters together at press conferences because “it looked better.”
While Oklahoma’s coronavirus numbers remain low, Tulsa is less than 250 miles from Plano, Kansas City, Wichita, Fayetteville, Garland, and Dallas-Fort Worth. And cases in Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri appear to be going up, not down, and businesses reopen and social distancing is eliminated.
Moreover, Trump announced plans for upcoming in-person rallies in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona, all of which have seen recent spikes in COVID-19 cases. Will he be requiring or even suggesting his supporters wear masks for those events?
Don’t bet on it. But no one gets in without a waiver, pal. ‘Cause no one cares about your health, but when it comes to protecting the big man’s bottom line, no sacrifice is too great.
Trump’s Tulsa campaign rally sign-up page includes coronavirus liability disclaimer [WaPo]
Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.