President Trump was reportedly seething Sunday over his embarrassing #MAGA rally flop in Tulsa, Okla., as aides blamed the poor turnout on leftists and the media.
NBC News reported that Trump was “furious” over the “underwhelming” turnout for the rally, where he spoke to an arena that was half full at most for an event meant to kickstart his presidential campaign.
Trump campaign chief Brad Parscale lashed out at the media for what he called alarmist reporting about the potential dangers of attending the rally as coronavirus cases in Oklahoma surged this past week.
He also shot down reports that teenage users of the social media site TikTok successfully pranked the campaign by getting hundreds of thousands of people to request tickets without intending to attend, discouraging Trump supporters from coming to the rally.
“Leftists and online trolls doing a victory lap, thinking they somehow impacted rally attendance, don’t know what they’re talking about or how our rallies work,” Parscale wrote.
“The fact is that a week’s worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of COVID and protestors, coupled with recent images of American cities on fire, had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally … For the media to now celebrate the fear that they helped create is disgusting, but typical. And it makes us wonder why we bother credentialing media for events when they don’t do their full jobs as professionals.”
Mercedes Schlapp, a campaign communications aide appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” claimed the disappointing rally was actually a huge success because millions supposedly watched on the campaign’s digital channels.
“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace wasn’t buying it, and accused her of trying to run out the clock on their interview by rattling on about the supposed shortcomings of Democratic rival Joe Biden.
“It’s silly to deny the reality” of the empty seats in Tulsa, Wallace chided Schlapp.
The Trump campaign had boasted last week that 1 million supporters “RSVP’d” for the rally online and Trump himself had personally guaranteed a packed house at the rally in deep red Oklahoma.
The campaign expected 19,000 people to fill the BOK Arena and arranged for an outdoor space to accommodate an “overflow” crowd of tens of thousands more who would be treated to speeches by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. But the outdoor event was scrapped when only a few dozen people showed up.
Photos and videos posted online showed large areas of empty seats inside the arena. A spokesman for the Tulsa Fire Department said that just 6,200 people attended the event, citing numbers from turnstiles at entrances. The Trump campaign claimed 12,000 #MAGA die-hards were in the place.
Trump was uncharacteristically silent about the rally flop Sunday.
NBC reported he was particularly critical of campaign aides’ decision to reveal that six staffers, including two Secret Service agents, tested positive for coronavirus on the morning of the Tulsa rally, apparently believing that the news may have kept some supporters away.
There is no indication Trump plans to scrap an upcoming rally set for Tuesday at a church in Phoenix, Ariz. The state is grappling with the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreak.
