OPINION | Trump's decision to hold a Tulsa rally on June 19 is no coincidence.

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(Credit: MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Editor's Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent CNN opinion contributor, Washington Post contributing columnist and World Politics Review columnist. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis. The opinions expressed in this comment are those of the author. Read more opinion at CNNe.com/opinion.

(CNN) - As the entire country, and much of the world, has turned its attention to fighting racism, President Donald Trump is blowing a whistle of support for white supremacists.

Three months after suspending his campaigning due to the coronavirus, Trump's team announced Wednesday that it will soon return to the stage in a crowded place. The rally will not only take place on June 19, a date known as “Juneteenth,” which marks the end of slavery in the United States, but will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the place where it occurred 99 years ago. a racial massacre that remains one of the worst acts of racial violence in the history of the United States. In 1921, hundreds of blacks were killed when white crowds looted and burned what had been a thriving neighborhood known as "Black Wall Street." That's the city where Trump fans will gather this year on the day in honor of the abolition of slavery.

Coincidence? We know him better

Choosing the date and location of the Trump campaign produced chills for those familiar with the history of racism in the United States. It was also a slap in the face for 84% of Americans who say that peaceful protests in response to incidents of police brutality against African Americans are justified.

Senator Kamala Harris tweeted: "This is not just a nod to white supremacists: You are throwing them a welcome party at home." She is not the only one who hears the dog whistle loud and clear.

But when a journalist asked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany what "Juneteenth" meant to the president and whether it was appropriate to hold his rally over the holidays, she defended the decision, claiming that "Juneteenth" is " a significant day for (Trump). ” He wants to use it to "share some of the progress that has been made as we wait and more needs to be done."

But the argument collapses under scrutiny. Is Trump planning to use the gathering of thousands of raucous MAGA hat-bearers who ignore the pandemic, mostly white supporters, to promote his progress in race relations?

Few will be deceived. Americans are familiar with this president. This is the man who claimed that there were some "very good people" among neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville. He is the president who told a group of black Democratic congressmen to "go back" to the "crime-infested places they came from." The president who rejects the idea of ​​renaming the military bases that currently honor Confederate military commanders who fought for the right to preserve slavery. And he is the leader who threatened to use military force to crush peaceful protesters who demanded an end to police brutality against blacks.

Then no. The claim that a Trump rally at the site of a racial massacre on June 19 is an effort to honor the fight against racism bears all the marks of Trump's fireworks.

Why, then, is Trump doing this? The answer is in the polls.

The President is panicking at mounting evidence that his chances for reelection are diminishing. Its popularity is declining as it constantly misses opportunities to expand its narrow base of support. If he were a normal politician instead of someone who seemed to suffer from a remarkable inability to express empathy, he might have been able to communicate compassion and solidarity with Americans suffering from a pandemic and those outraged at the murder of George Floyd and other blacks at the hands of police. Instead, his knee jerk reaction in both cases has been to double the attack on his perceived critics, rivals, and enemies, further polarizing a country during a time when it could have rallied and gained political goodwill in the process.

The result is a free fall in the soundings.

The latest CNN poll found him with his lowest approval ratings since January 2019, at just 38%, roughly the same level as single-term presidents Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush at the same time as their presidencies. The poll also found that Trump follows his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, by 14 points. The campaign responded by demanding that CNN apologize and withdraw the poll. CNN responded with a scorching letter, noting that threats from political leaders generally come from regimes with no regard for free media.

Unfortunately for the president, the results of the CNN poll are backed by other opinion polls with similar results. And the news is lousy for the Trump campaign, even when looking at the prospects of his Electoral College.

CNN found that majorities in each age group disapprove of his performance as president. And at every age group and income level, most disapprove of the way they have handled the protests. That is true for men and women, black and white. Two-thirds say Trump's response has been damaging, and more than eight in 10 say the peaceful protests are justified.

Trump is standing on an increasingly narrow base of support. Like a polar bear on a block of melting ice, he is watching his support dissolve. His impulse is to hold on to what he can and keep that base from disappearing beneath him in the rising heat.

That is why Trump is struggling to hold on to what he has.

The campaign is on firm ground in Oklahoma, where Trump won 65% of the vote in the 2016 election. Neglecting the importance of "Juneteenth" and holding a rally in Tulsa, he reminds his most loyal supporters that he is in his corner; that even if he says something they don't like, he has his fingers crossed behind his back and that everything is to show. We've seen him over and over again, when he reads from a teleprompter the words written by others, only to reveal his true feelings in an unconventional statement later. This happened when he denounced racism in Charlottesville as "disgusting to everything we appreciate as Americans," and the next day he immortally declared that there were "very good people on both sides."

The timing of the next Trump rally is not a coincidence. The White House knows about "Juneteenth." Last year, he published a statement on his website, recalling the June 19, 1865 statement that "all slaves are free," saying, "We pay tribute to the indomitable spirit of blacks."

If Trump goes ahead with the rally in Tulsa, he will try to make it look like he will also honor blacks this year. That is not what he will sell that day. Do not buy it.