President Donald Trump’s Tulsa campaign rally didn’t quite deliver on the promised turnout, prompting allies and critics alike to put their own spin on the matter.
The Saturday event was Trump’s first campaign rally since the coronavirus pandemic began, and the president’s team spent the week leading up to it touting the huge number of RSVPs for tickets to the event.
5 days ago …https://t.co/dcCKpaQa9R
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) June 20, 2020
President Trump himself criticized his presumptive opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, for failing to pack even a few socially-distanced folding chairs.
Joe Biden’s rally. ZERO enthusiasm! pic.twitter.com/IB2BrrmTPH
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020
But when Saturday came around, the arena was not as packed as many had expected it to be.
The Trump campaign said recently that over one million tickets were requested for the Tulsa rally, the first rally in months due to covid-19.
Trump proclaimed that there wouldn’t be an empty seat.
I’ll let this video inside the rally speak for itself. pic.twitter.com/se6er6j49m
— Elizabeth Thomas (@lizzkatherine_) June 20, 2020
Trump critics were quick to point to a social media campaign, fueled by a TikTok video made by a woman named Mary Jo Laupp, which had encouraged them to sign up for tickets and then not attend.
Mary Jo Laupp, a grandma who worked on Buttigieg’s campaign, seems to be the one who first encouraged TikTok users to troll Trump’s campaign.
In this video, now seen by over two million people, she urges users to reserve tickets they won’t use for today’s #Tulsa rally. pic.twitter.com/AaCJsFBnSX
— Joshua Zitser (@mrjoshz) June 20, 2020
Laupp explained her video to CNN’s Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources.”
WATCH:
Laupp explained that her video had gotten picked up by K-Pop fans, which had resulted in it going viral.
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez credited that video with hoodwinking the Trump campaign.
Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID
Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud. ☺️ https://t.co/jGrp5bSZ9T
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 21, 2020
Trump campaign Senior Adviser Mercedes Schlapp said that some of the lowered turnout was due to the threat of protests in the area, telling Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” that even members of her own family had voiced concerns about that. (RELATED: ‘Please Don’t Filibuster’: Chris Wallace Accuses Mercedes Schlapp Of Denying Empty Seats At Trump Rally)
WATCH:
“I’m telling you there were people — people who couldn’t bring their children because of concerns of the protesters,” Schlapp said.
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) June 21, 2020
Several people shared video of Black Lives Matter protesters blocking off streets and even the main entrance to the rally at one point, although attendees were still able to get into the arena through other entrances.
Overhead view of Tulsa Trump rally entrance that has now been overtaken by BLM protesters pic.twitter.com/5cnT5UjWPY
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) June 20, 2020
Sure no blocked gates @cnn. @cnn if you think families with children will push through this your sick.
America, this is the country @CNN is ok with, think about that.
This is the main gate of the rally: pic.twitter.com/wSKwotoajq
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) June 21, 2020
But the most likely explanation appeared to be that there were multiple factors influencing the number of people who ultimately attended Saturday’s rally — as journalist Yashar Ali explained.
12. Bottom line:
– Bragging about numbers in advance scared people off
– Coronavirus impacted numbers
– Holding a rally during a pandemic in a state w/ a very small GOP pool compared to other states
– Not doing audience building stuff because they thought they didn’t need to
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) June 21, 2020