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President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Saturday, holding his first rally since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The rally was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the BOK Center. The indoor venue generated concerns about the potential spread of coronavirus. Attendees were not required to wear masks or maintain social distancing, although the campaign said it planned to do temperature checks and provide hand sanitizer and masks.

Tulsa was initially chosen as the rally site because Oklahoma, a deep-red state that has long voted Republican, appeared to have a lower incidence of coronavirus cases. But Tulsa set a new daily record this week for cases, and Tulsa County reported a new record of daily infections on Saturday. Meanwhile, six campaign staffers working on the rally have tested positive, the campaign confirmed.

Saturday's rally came as protests are taking place across the country over racism and police brutality. It was originally scheduled for Friday, but it was moved to Saturday because Friday was Juneteenth — the day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Trump supporters cheer for the President at the rally.

Evan Vucci/AP

The crowd was <a href="index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F06%2F20%2Fpolitics%2Ftulsa-rally-trump%2Findex.html" target="_blank">smaller than expected.</a> In the days leading up to Trump's rally, he and his allies ginned up expectations for a massive crowd with campaign officials telling CNN that more than a million people had registered to attend. One local official said they expected 100,000 to show up near the arena.

The crowd was smaller than expected. In the days leading up to Trump's rally, he and his allies ginned up expectations for a massive crowd with campaign officials telling CNN that more than a million people had registered to attend. One local official said they expected 100,000 to show up near the arena.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

"Five months from now we're going to defeat Sleepy Joe Biden," Trump said before mocking former Vice President Joe Biden by suggesting that Biden often doesn't know what state he's campaigning in. Trump criticized the media for failing to give him credit for the number of Americans who have now been tested for Covid-19. He also said he told officials in his administration to slow down testing because of the rising number of cases in America. "You know testing is a double-edged sword," Trump said while complaining about media coverage of his handling of the virus. "Here's the bad part ... when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people; you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down please." After Trump made the comment about testing, an administration official told CNN that the president was "obviously kidding" when he said that he asked for a slowdown.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

A man waves a Trump flag in Tulsa on Saturday.

Charlie Riedel/AP

Trump arrives for his rally on Saturday.

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Protesters and Trump supporters argue outside the BOK Center on Saturday.

Charlie Riedel/AP

Rallygoers participate in a prayer at the BOK Center.

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The President had hoped that the Tulsa rally would mark a triumphant return to the campaign trail more than 100 days after the coronavirus shut down the country. Recent national polls have shown Trump falling far behind Biden in head-to-head matchups.

Evan Vucci/AP

A woman has her temperature checked before entering the BOK Center.

Charlie Riedel/AP

Trump supporters cheer for Trump's son Eric.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

Trump points to his shoe as he<a href="index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fpolitics%2Flive-news%2Ftrump-rally-tulsa-oklahoma%2Fh_b447102cdbae2bb87ff7783ae191c872" target="_blank"> explains his careful descent down a ramp</a> earlier this month after a speech at West Point. Trump said the reason he was so careful walking down the ramp was that he was wearing "leather bottom shoes" and worried that he might slip due to the lack of traction.

Trump points to his shoe as he explains his careful descent down a ramp earlier this month after a speech at West Point. Trump said the reason he was so careful walking down the ramp was that he was wearing "leather bottom shoes" and worried that he might slip due to the lack of traction.

Win McNamee/Getty Images