George Floyd killing: Trump faces backlash for starting election rally

A man walks past Who Is Next, an artwork as a tribute to George Floyd, on Friday in Milan, Italy. Pic/ AFP

Black community enraged by the custodial killing of George Floyd and political leaders are calling on President Donald Trump to at least change the date of an Oklahoma rally kick-starting his return to public campaigning, saying that holding the event on Juneteenth, the day that marks the end of slavery in America, is a "slap in the face."

Trump campaign officials discussed in advance the possible reaction to the Juneteenth date, but there are no plans to change it despite fierce blowback. California Sen. Kamala Harris and Tulsa civic officials were among the leaders who said it was offensive for Trump to pick that day " June 19 " and that place " Tulsa, an Oklahoma city that in 1921 was the site of a fiery and orchestrated white-on-black attack.

"This isn-t just a wink to white supremacists - he-s throwing them a welcome home party," Harris tweeted. "To choose the date, to come to Tulsa, is totally disrespectful and a slap in the face to even happen," said Sherry Gamble Smith, president of Tulsa-s Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, an organisation named after the prosperous black community that white Oklahomans burned down in 1921.

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