Trump to make supporters sign COVID-19 liability waiver to attend rally

An already controversial rally in Oklahoma comes with a disclaimer

Jun 12, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a round table discussion with African American supporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House on June 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump already raised some brows when he announced that his first re-election rally since the nationwide quarantines would take place on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now, Trump’s team has revealed it also plans to make attendees sign a waiver promising not to sue him if they contract COVID-19 while attending the event.

According to TMZ, “the President’s 2020 reelection campaign just announced details behind his highly-controversial move to host a rally next Friday in Tulsa — and it includes a disclaimer: By registering to attend you are automatically agreeing NOT to sue if you contract the coronavirus. Always read the fine print.”

“By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to Covid-19 exists in any public place where people are present,” a statement on Mr. Trump’s campaign website informed those wishing to attend his June 19 rally. “By attending the rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”

As we previously reported, while the White House has not given a clear reason why the president chose to hold his first rally on Juneteenth or at this historic site, most people believe the intention is clear.

Seriously? To attend the next Trump rally you have to promise not to sue if you get the Covid virus?
"Come to my rally and you may die … but we won't take any responsibility." Yep, that's Trump.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) June 11, 2020

“Hard to view this as anything but deliberate,” MSNBC host Joy Reid tweeted about the move. “Trump and his alt-right crew salt the wounds of our ugly racial history to activate the ID of his white conservative followers and try to send a shiver of fear down Black folks’ spines. But this theater of horrors won’t work. Ever.”

To make matters worse, out of the four states that the president announced this week as sites for rallies, three of them — Florida, Arizona and North Carolina — are seeing rising coronavirus caseloads, which arguably gives the impression that the waivers are a sign that his team knows he’s putting his supporters at risk.

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