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President Donald Trump's campaign called for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to stop holding campaign events virtually and resume campaigning publicly.
After an extended pause on large-scale events such as campaign rallies due to the threat of coronavirus, Trump announced a series of four in-person events on Wednesday, beginning with a stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma this Saturday. Biden has done a majority of his campaigning by holding virtual town halls and fundraisers. In a Tuesday statement, Trump's campaign called Biden's online campaign events an example of Biden's "timidity."
"This is obviously a tactic to help [Biden] avoid errors and embarrassing, lost trains of thought, while also conveniently preventing the press corps from asking him any questions in person," wrote Trump 2020 Communications Director Tim Murtaugh.
"At what point will Biden subject himself to the scrutiny American voters deserve when considering the next President of the United States?" the statement continued.
Murtaugh also asked members of the media to call on Biden "to end his self-imposed isolation and give Americans what they deserve—a thorough examination and vetting of a man who wants to be president."
Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign for comment. This story will be updated with any response.
One of Biden's few public appearances happened Thursday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he laid out his plan to reopen the U.S. economy. Biden also voiced his concerns about a second wave of the coronavirus.
"What worries me the most is," Biden said, "I see nothing that is being done to prepare for what the experts and scientists are telling us is likely to be a bounceback."
Trump said in May that if the coronavirus does return in the fall, he will not shut down the country in response.
"We can put out the fires," Trump said. "Whether it is an ember or a flame, we are going to put it out. But we are not closing our country."
Tulsa, the site of Trump's first campaign rally since March, reported 89 new confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus on Monday, sparking concerns about public health safety at the rally.
Attendees of the Tulsa event who registered online were asked to agree to a disclaimer acknowledging that "an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present." The clause states that Trump's campaign will be held harmless if attendees are exposed to the virus.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum expressed concern about Trump's rally in a Tuesday Facebook post. "As someone who is cautious by nature," Bynum wrote, "I don't like to be the first to try anything. I would have loved some other city to have proven the safety of such an event already."
Bynum said he would not attempt to prevent the rally from happening and that organizers of the event have promised to abide by Oklahoma's coronavirus mitigation protocols.
