US lead virus expert warns Trump allies; says attending rallies 'dangerous'

White House infectious disease expertAnthony Faucihas said his advice to people who want to attend US presidentDonald Trump’scampaign rallies is the same for Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump protestors.

He said the gatherings are “a danger” and “risky.” He urged those attending wear a mask and use hand sanitiser.

Fauci made the comments during an interview. “You know, it’s a danger to the people who are trying to control the demonstration,” he said. “And it’s a danger to the people who are demonstrating. So at the end of the day, it is a risky procedure.” When asked whether his advice applied to Trump campaign rallies, Fauci said “I am consistent. I stick by what I say.”

Trump announced his campaign rallies are planned for 19 June, known as Juneteenth in the US, a holiday marking the end of slavery. Trump has insisted he did not choose the date on purpose.

“The fact that I’m having a rally on that day,you can really think about that very positively as a celebration,” Trump said.

“Because a rally to me is a celebration. It’s an interesting date. It wasn’t done for that reason, but it’s an interesting date.”

Amid protests against racial injustice, President Donald Trump is defending his decision to schedule his first campaign rally in months on a day commemorating the end of USslavery and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city where white mobs massacred African-Americans a century ago.

Trump, seeking re-election on November3, scheduled the Tulsa rally for June 19, a day celebrated as Juneteenth. On that date in 1865, Texas became the last of the pro-slavery Confederate states forced to comply with President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War declaring all people held as slaves free.