'Frustrated' Trump had a meltdown, yelled at aides backstage on seeing over 10,000 empty chairs in Tulsa rally
President Donald J. Trump allegedly "yelled" at aides backstage at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma after seeing a lower than expected turnout for his rally on Saturday, according to a report by The New York Times.
Despite Trump's campaign organizer's repeated assertions that over 1 million people had requested tickets to the event, only 6,200 are reported to have shown up to the 19,000-seat venue.
Speaking to NBC News, a source "familiar with the discussions" told the outlet that the president was already frustrated by headline after headline that claimed six members of his campaign had tested positive for COVID-19. The New York Times reported that four people "familiar with what happened" told them that Trump was already "warned on Air Force One about the disappointing audience numbers" beforehand, but "boiled over when he saw for himself how empty the venue looked."
The four anonymous sources allegedly told the paper that the president "yelled at aides when he saw the sparsely filled seats from backstage." NBC News also added to the claims saying multiple White House insiders had described Trump as "furious."
Furthermore, the New York Times cited advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that Trump's mood improved as he gave his two-hour address on stage, but that he appeared in low spirits afterward.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post cited officials "with knowledge of the events" while reporting that Trump was angry on his way back to the White House and fumed through the remainder of the weekend.
That said, a number of reasons have been reported for the less-than-anticipated turnout. Some claimed TikTok users and K-pop fans had botched the event by registering in large numbers with no intention of attending.
There were also reports of a number of protests at the venue. At one point, according to the Post, a group of protesters blocked an entrance to the venue and did not let the president's supporters into the event.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale subsequently released a statement attacking "leftists and online trolls" and asserting that "phony ticket requests never factor into our thinking."
“A week’s worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of COVID and protesters, coupled with recent images of American cities on fire, had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally,” he said in a statement.
“We constantly weed out bogus numbers, as we did with tens of thousands at the Tulsa rally, in calculating our possible attendee pool. These phony ticket requests never factor into our thinking," the campaign manager continued. “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.”
Nonetheless, Trump's 2020 challenger Joe Biden's campaign pounced at the opportunity to scoff at the size of the Tulsa crowd.
"Donald Trump has abdicated leadership and it is no surprise that his supporters have responded by abandoning him," they declared.
