Trump's Tulsa rally mocked as 'Fyre Festival of political rallies' as campaign sees poor turnout
As US President Donald Trump's reelection campaign kicked off amid the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing protests against police brutality on black people, the President's Tulsa rally has drawn comparisons to 2017's fraudulent music fest, the Fyre Festival.
Trump's campaign had earlier noted that close to a million tickets were requested for the rally which was held on June 20 at the BOK Centre in Tulsa, Oklahoma — the rally was initially scheduled for June 19 but was rescheduled by a day after mass outcry over the campaign's choice of date on Juneteenth. The BOK Centre has a capacity of just over 19,000 seats. However, despite the campaign's claim, many seats at the BOK Center were empty as Trump addressed a half-empty rally. Trump also tried to explain the crowd size, blaming it on the media for declaring "don't go, don't come, don't do anything" while insisting there were protesters outside "doing bad things", though the small crowds of pre-rally demonstrators were largely peaceful. The campaign was forced to cancel an outdoor rally after the expected overflow crowd did not show up.
The less-than-expected turnout led to the internet comparing the rally to Fyre Festival. In 2017, the event that was promoted by celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Hailey Beiber (then Baldwin) and Emily Ratajkowski, faced the ire of attendees after it experienced problems related to security, food, accommodation, medical services and artist relations. Instead of the luxury villas and gourmet meals for which festival attendees paid thousands of dollars, they received prepackaged sandwiches and FEMA tents as their accommodation.
One user tweeted, "Looks like @parscale is throwing the Fyre Festival of political rallies out in Tulsa," referring to Trump's campaign manager, Brad Parscale. Another wrote, "The Fyre Festival energy of this Tulsa rally is bringing me real and true joy." One user expressed, "Shout out to the k-pop stans and tik tok zoomers who mass requested #TulsaTrumpRally tickets and made them dramatically overestimate the number of people coming. Team Trump has produced the political version of the Fyre Festival," as another tweeted, "After tonight, the Fyre Festival will no longer be known as the biggest disaster in the history of organized gatherings."
However, some felt it was unfair to compare the rally to the Fyre Festival, as one wrote, "Imagine being this bad at your job that you got pantsed, in slow motion, by teenagers. Calling it the Fyre festival is unfair. The Fyre festival sold out." Another tweeted, "What’s the difference between this Trump rally and the Fyre Festival? People actually showed up to the Fyre Festival." Another expressed, "At least the people at Fyre Festival got cheese sandwiches and liquor. All these MAGA twats are getting is being screamed at by a racist and COVID." One user joked, "People are comparing Trump's Tulsa rally to Fyre Festival but I think comparing it to Dashcon is more fitting." Another tweeted, "Donald Trump's Tulsa rally is even more poorly attended than Fyre Festival. But at least the people who attended Fyre Festival eventually figured out they were being conned."