President Donald Trump told Axios on Friday that he anticipated a “wild evening” at his Saturday campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while recommending “people do what they want” when it comes to wearing a mask at the event — and even suggested it could be harmful to wear one.
Trump’s comments come as the city has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks. They also stand at odds with recommendations from public health officials in his own administration who recommend mask-wearing whenever social distancing isn’t possible, and with warnings from experts that indoor concerts and shows are natural superspreading events.
Trump’s rally Saturday — which will take place at an indoor arena that seats 19,000 people — will be the first one he’s held in months after taking a break from them due to the global pandemic. But despite the coronavirus still raging across the US — and surging in the very city he’s going to campaign in — he repeatedly dismissed the threat of the virus and expert-recommended mitigation strategies during his interview with Axios. Continue reading.