DNC National Press Secretary Brandon Gassaway and DNC Black Caucus Chair Virgie M. Rollins released the following statement on the Trump campaign’s plan to resume in-person rallies on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma:

The Trump campaign knows exactly what they’re doing. They know that Juneteenth represents Black liberation. A shedding of the shackles of slavery and America inching closer to sharing its promise with Black people. They know that Tulsa, Oklahoma is the site of what historians refer to as the single worst incident of racial violence in American history, where white mobs attacked Black residents and burned down what was the pinnacle of Black economic success, Black Wall Street.

They know this history but still have decided to press on and hold a Trump rally, where confederate imagery and nostalgia of a virulent racial past are commonplace, on that specific date in that specific place for one reason: They don’t care.

America is reeling not just from the novel coronavirus that has claimed more than 113,000 lives and climbing, not just from an economic upheaval that has resulted in 21 million Americans unemployed, but also from coming to grips with its sordid racial past that exacerbates the health and economic turmoil among Black Americans.

Instead of using such a momentous day on such hallowed ground to reconcile these truths, President Trump has chosen to rally his ever shrinking base. This is not a surprise from a president who has tear gassed peaceful protestors, denied the existence of systemic racism, and threatened the Insurrection Act while holed up in a White House bunker. This rally serves as yet another point of proof  in this president’s administration that makes one thing abundantly clear when it comes to the health, safety, and well-being of Black people: They don’t care.