Good evening. Fresh off an explosive expose from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Donald Trump had hoped his first rally in months would kick off election season early.
By the end of the night, he must have thought about using his famous catchphrase on many of his campaign staff.
Drawing just 6,200 to his rally – whether it be down to Tik Tok and K-Pop stan manipulation or a simple lack of enthusiasm – the event was labelled ‘#TulsaFlop’ on social media afterwards.
Tulsa, of course, was the site of a massacre 99 years ago. Known as a prosperous black community in Oklahoma, white mobs burned businesses and murdered African-Americans simply for succeeding.
It was a not-so-subtle way for the Trump administration to bite back at the outpouring of support for Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the globe – or so they thought.
Perhaps we should also be thankful that an event where social distancing was ignored completely, so few attended.
It wasn’t the only embarrassment for The Donald this week, however.
There were many more revelations from Mr Bolton – who we should, by no means, exonerate for his crimes – on his former boss’ incoherent foreign policy.
In his book ‘The Room Where It Happened’, we revealed that the President labelled Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido the ‘Beto O’Rourke’ of Venezuela – a stinging rebuke.
Strangely, he also allegedly appealed to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help him in November’s election, and was unaware the UK was a nuclear power.
The latter claim is even more bizarre considering Britain’s imperialist past (and some would claim present).
The statue issue has hit both sides of the Atlantic, with Oxford’s Oriel college shockingly voting to bring down Cecil Rhodes’ monument following years of pressure from activists.
One that still stands – and will continue to stand for fear of civil war – is Winston Churchill’s. Our reporter Mason Quah delved into the former Prime Minister’s history of scientific racism.
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Just across the Irish Sea, meanwhile, the BLM movement has continued to rage peacefully – but the police aren’t necessarily responding in turn.
Northern Irish police were slammed by activist groups for their heavy-handed attitude to recent demonstrations, as Ethan Davies reports.
Over in the Middle East, a UN fundraiser fell horribly short of a $1billion target to support Yemen’s humanitarian situation. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi-led incursion is still going on – and it came as a shock to many human rights groups that the coalition was taking off a UN blacklist earlier this week.
The UN is also having a tough time in Mali, where it has summoned more British troops, as Imogen Smith reports.
Meanwhile, make sure to check out the second part of Mason Quah’s series on the LGBT struggle in Asia here.
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Our North America correspondent Scott Costen takes a look at one of Canada’s first anti-fascists in Not for King or Country: Edward Cecil-Smith, The Communist Party of Canada, and the Spanish Civil War.
Looking forward?
This will likely be the last time I mention Bernie Sanders. The Vermont Senator has one last big opportunity to pick up delegates in the New York Primary on Tuesday.
Joe Biden has gone over two months without holding a press conference, at a time when progressive leadership is needed most – making it even more disappointing that Bernie dropped out.
However, progressive Democrats have a fighting chance of winning their congressional primaries.
We’ll have a piece on Jamaal Bowman – who is polling well ahead of the incumbent in New York’s 16th congressional district – tomorrow.
Bowman – backed by Sanders and AOC – could prove to be Tuesday’s biggest shock as he takes on hawkish House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman and Iraq war enabler Eliot Engel.
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