On a press call yesterday, Congressman and Biden for President Co-Chair Cedric Richmond and Oklahoma state Representative Ajay Pittman slammed Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa, highlighting the threat to local communities, his ineffective leadership, and his failed record with the African-American community.

Yesterday, the DNC launched a full page newspaper-ad campaign in the Oklahoma Eagle, a historic Black paper in Tulsa. The ad highlights Trump’s infamous comments during the 2016 campaign to African American voters — “What the hell do you have to lose?” — and will run for one week. Alicia Andrews, the first African American to chair the Oklahoma Democratic Party, published an op-ed in The Oklahoman blasting Trump’s rally, writing that “his presence will divide us, his words will incite prejudice, and his ego-driven rally will pose new threats to Oklahomans’ health.”

After the call, speakers issued the following statements:

Congressman and Biden for President Co-Chair Cedric Richmond:

“The president is being exactly who we thought he was, and that is a person more worried about himself than the country. A person more worried about himself than our future. The question isn’t about who he is. We know who he is. The real question is, who are we?”

Oklahoma State Representative Ajay Pittman: 

“This rally will threaten the safety of Oklahomans, including Trump’s own supporters. This trip is just another illustration of Donald Trump’s failures to Black Americans in Oklahoma and across the country. Instead of doing his job and helping working families in the midst of a global pandemic and economic downturn — rather than demonstrating sensitivity to the national police brutality issue and the death of George Floyd — he is once again missing the mark to heal the nation and address the racial divide in America. The bottom line is that President Trump should implement an executive order to make Juneteenth a federal holiday and mandate updates in our American history curriculum so that we can begin a real candid conversation in America.”

BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES TO AFRICAN AMERICANS

Promise: “What the hell do you have to lose? And at the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the African-American vote. I promise you. Because I will produce — I will for the inner-cities and I will produce for the African-Americans.” [Trump Campaign Rally, Dimondale MI,  8/19/16]

Reality: In the midst of Trump’s chaotic pandemic response, Black Americans are dying of the virus at a vastly higher rate than white people.

Reality:  While white unemployment fell in May, the Black unemployment rate continued to rise. Since February, that figure has nearly tripled to 16.8%.

Reality: While Trump was funnelling relief money to campaign donors and large corporations, the number of working Black business owners in the United States fell 40%—nearly twice the country’s overall closure rate.