TULSA, Okla. (KFOR) – President Trump’s weekend campaign trip to Tulsa is full speed ahead despite several warnings from top state health officials.
A line of supporters are preparing to camp out for a week just to be first in line.
The president tweeted Monday “1 million people have requested tickets.”
“We’ve never had an empty seat and we certainly won’t in Oklahoma,” President Trump said.
The BOK Center holds around 20,000 people, and now, the Cox Business Convention Center is reserved for overflow as well.
“We have to get out and communicate with one another and create business,” Oklahoma GOP Chairman David McLain said. “We are thankful we have a governor who understands that as per the data driven guidelines coming from the health department.”
But the director of the Tulsa City-County Health Department says he’s worried after the state’s spike in COVID-19 cases.
“I want it postponed until it is safe to have an event where people can come together and be part of the political process,” Dr. Bruce Dart said.
According to President Trump’s campaign manager, each guest will have their temperature checked, receive hand sanitizer, and masks.
“All of us are adults,” McLain said. “People can manage themselves when to have their masks on and when to take it off.”
Guests also have a to sign a liability waiver reading, “If you contract coronavirus you cannot sue the Trump administration or the BOK Center.”
OKC attorney Ed Blau tells KFOR proving your sickness came from the rally would be extremely difficult.
“The waiver is so broad and so poorly written it gives them something to hang their hat but if it came down to it a judge, it would not uphold it as a valid waiver,” Ed Blau said.
The president is already facing backlash after pushing the event back a day.
The rally was originally scheduled for Juneteenth, oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
Governor Kevin Stitt says the delay was his idea, and he’s also working on a tour of the Greenwood District with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Representative Monroe Nichols talked to KFOR about the controversial visit in his district.
“It wasn’t part of the trip and it wasn’t something they ever thought about,” Representative Monroe Nichols said. “They never even considered the holiday itself.”
Governor Kevin Stitt told reporters Monday he’s working with the Trump administration to move the rally outdoors, but later in the day his media team said they actually have no control over a venue change.