6 Trump campaign staffers test positive for coronavirus before Tulsa rally

People wait at a security checkpoint to attend a rally with US President Donald Trump later in the evening at the BOK Center on June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Six members of the campaign advance team for President Trump's controversial Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. A statement from Trump's re-election campaign said the staffers, who were among hundreds to be tested for COVID-19, were quickly quarantined and neither they nor anyone who had immediate contact with them will be at the rally.

The decision to host the rally worries public health experts at the national and local level; Oklahoma is one of several states experiencing an uptick in coronavirus infections. But the Trump administration has waved away the criticism, ensuring that every attendee will have their temperature checked upon entering the Bank of Oklahoma Center before receiving facemasks and hand sanitizer.

That may be the case inside the arena, but NBC News reports many of the rallygoers who have congregated outside the arena said they don't plan on following strict precautions during the events, with several doubting the severity of the outbreak. Read more at NBC News and Axios.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.