Trump’s Arizona rally is somehow a worse public health risk than his Tulsa one.
Just a few short days after a flopped rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail. On Tuesday, the president headed to Arizona to address a student rally in Phoenix, where coronavirus cases have begun to climb at an alarming rate.
The rally is just one part of a larger swing through the state, which is on track to be a key battleground in the general election this November. Trump started his day with a visit to the US Border Patrol station in Yuma, Arizona, where he participated in a briefing on border security.
He also visited the southern border to inspect progress on the wall between the US and Mexico. According to the White House, Trump’s visit included a “commemoration of the 200th mile of new border wall” near San Luis, Arizona.
But it is the rally itself, organized by Students for Trump and Turning Point Action, that has many public health experts concerned. It will likely be far smaller than his Saturday event in Tulsa, which saw only about a third of the 19,200-seat stadium filled. According to NPR, the Phoenix venue — Dream City Church — can hold 3,000 people.
Still, Arizona presents a particularly dangerous situation for an indoor event: Cases in the state have increased by 174 percent over the past three weeks, and the Arizona Health Department reported a record-high 3,600 new cases on Tuesday alone.
Nonetheless, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday that the majority of the people in line for Trump’s rally were maskless, contrary to a Phoenix policy requiring them.
According to a Monday press release, Dream City Church has taken steps to mitigate the risk of the coronavirus by installing “breakthrough indoor air purification technology.” A video posted by the church’s pastor Monday claimed that the system “kills 99.
