U.S. President Donald Trump held a rally, nicknamed the "Students for Trump" Rally at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona on June 23, 2020. The rally gained large attention for being held despite lower than expected turnout at his previous rally the day before, as well as being Trump's second rally held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Background and preparations
In preparation for the rally, as a result of a social media campaign that led to many people signing up for tickets, with no intention of showing up to Trump's previous rally in Tulsa, the event ditched online sign-ups and instead urged attendees to show up in person. Although Phoenix mandated mask-wearing in public at the time of the rally, the cities Mayor Kate Gallego, stated she would not enforce mask-wearing at the event. When asked by CNN Host Wolf Blitzer during an interview, she stated "Yes, the requirement is that everyone who is within six feet of other people be wearing a mask,” but also noted “Look, we’re not going to cite the president of the United States. But we would ask all other elected officials and every other type of leader to lead by example.” Organizers expected the rallies attendees, mostly young people, would comply with the cities mask-wearing order. However, at the rally, few people were seen wearing masks. signing a plaque commemorating the 200th mile of new border wall, along the Mexico–United States border, near Yuma, Arizona|alt= Earlier in the day, ahead of their rally, Trump visited Yuma, Arizona and a nearby section of the US and Mexico Border Wall. Trump, as well as, Arizona GovernorDoug Ducey, Arizona Senator Martha McSally and Arizona 8th District Representative Debbie Lesko signed a plaque commemorating the 200th mile of new border wall, during this visit.
Speech
Trump spoke for about 90 minutes. He opened the speech by touting Fox News ratings for coverage of his previous rally in Tulsa being the highest in the networks history for a Saturday night. He did not, however, address the low in-person turnout for the event, as he was reported to have been furious about it, following the rally.
Attendance and viewership
The total attendance is estimated to have been around 3,000, as the Dream City Church's capacity is around the same, and it was filled for the event. The event venue was full, while at Trump's previous rally which was notable for its lower-than-expected turnout, the venue wasn't even half filled. However, the Dream City Church has a capacity smaller than the attendance was at Trump's previous rally in Tulsa, and there were few people directly outside the venue during the event. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. and a Trump campaign official, attended the event, and then tested positive for COVID-19 on July 3. She also attended Trumps Tulsa rally on June 20, and then traveled to, but did not attend, a Trump-related fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Air-purification scandal
In preparation for the Rally, Dream City Church installed CleanAir EXP air-purification units that it claimed "kills 99.9% of COVID within ten minutes". In a video shared by the church, senior pastorLuke Barnett said that "when you come into our auditorium, 99% of COVID is gone, killed, if it was even there in the first place." The efficacy of this system had not been tested against COVID-19. Philip Tierno, a clinical professor of pathology at New York University, said that no system can protect someone against an infected person sneezing in the seat next to them. "When you are dealing with hundreds or thousands of people in an AUDITORIUM, some of whom will carry the virus you WILL NOT BE absolutely PROTECTED." According to Jeffrey Siegal, professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto, "This thing is not going to do anything in terms of protecting people in that space." On June 23, 2020, the church deleted the video, and it posted a message saying the system does not eliminate COVID-19, but it can eliminate other types of viruses.
