Trump Threatens Protesters Ahead of Tulsa Rally

By Staff, CNN

US President Donald Trump warned those protesting his planned rally in Oklahoma they could be treated roughly, an opening threat a day ahead of what he considered to be the new kickoff of his reelection campaign.

Writing on Twitter, Trump lumped together "protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes" saying they would not be afforded what he's decried as gentle treatment if they gather outside his Tulsa event. It came the morning after he used a blatantly false video of young children to decry media coverage of American race relations, a move that drew a rebuke from Twitter.

The messages, which came as the nation marks the day in 1865 that the last enslaved Black people in the US learned they had been freed from bondage, made no attempt at striking a unifying or commemorative tone. Instead, Trump used his platform to heighten the drama surrounding his return to the campaign trail after a 110-day pandemic-forced absence and warn those who oppose him to stay away.

"Please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!" he wrote on Friday morning.

It was a turnabout from Trump's declaration earlier this month that he is an "ally of all peaceful protesters," though not necessarily a surprising one given his repeated condemnation of demonstrations that, in some instances, turned violent.

Later in the day, Trump's spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said he was referring only to "violent protesters, anarchists, looters, the kind of lawlessness that we saw play out before President Trump came out with the National Guard and calmed our streets with law enforcement."

As he heads into Saturday's rally, Trump is hoping to reset his campaign after a rocky stretch that has included widespread disapproval of his handling of racial demonstrations, a global public health crisis, two Supreme Court losses and, most recently, a stinging rebuke by his former national security adviser.