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President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa in late June that drew thousands of participants and large protests “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed new cases on Monday, a one-day record high, and another 206 cases on Tuesday. By comparison, during the week before the June 20 Trump rally, there were 76 cases on Monday and 96 on Tuesday. (Murphy, 7/8)

Asked by a reporter if Trump’s campaign event at the Bank of Oklahoma Center on June 20 could be responsible for that surge, [Dr. Bruce Dart, health director for the city and county] said: “In the past few days, we’ve had almost 500 cases. And we know we had several large events a little over two weeks ago, which is about right. So I guess we just connect the dots,” Dart said, apparently referring to the rally and accompanying protests. (Whitcomb, 7/8)

President Trump is acknowledging that he may have to temper his expectations, adamant at times, that his acceptance speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention should be a big event in front of thousands of people. "We're very flexible," Trump said when asked during an interview Tuesday with Gray Television whether he may not have as big a gathering next month as he's planned on to celebrate his renomination to lead the GOP presidential ticket. (Gonyea, 7/8)

Houston officials canceled the state GOP convention Wednesday over coronavirus concerns, a move that comes just a week before thousands of Texas Republicans were expected to arrive in the city. (Morris, 7/8)