Trump reschedules Tulsa rally after outcry

U.S. President Donald Trump said late Friday night that he was rescheduling his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma next week, after a strong outcry against its timing, reported Xinhua.

"We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th - a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday," Trump tweeted.

"Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents," he continued. "I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests."

The rally, previously scheduled for June 19, would fall on Juneteenth, a day that memorializes the end of slavery in the United States. Tulsa was home to one of the worst incidents of racial violence in the nation's history, where many African Americas were massacred 99 years ago.

It would also come after nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota last month.

"Tulsa was the site of the worst racist violence in American history. The president's speech there on Juneteenth is a message to every Black American: more of the same," Congresswoman Val Demings, a Democrat, tweeted.

Trump has denied that the date of the rally was chosen on purpose.

"Think about it as a celebration. They're always a celebration," Trump told Fox News on Friday. "In the history of politics, I think I can say there's never been any group or any person that's had rallies like I do."

Trump has met with criticism for his response to the protests stemming from Floyd's death for largely avoiding engaging with protesters' demands for policing reform and solutions for racial inequality.

Instead, he has focused on the need for "law and order" amid demonstrations, while administration officials have disputed that there is systemic racism in law enforcement or more broadly.