Not really a flop show: Trump's Tulsa rally speech was watched by more than 500k people on YouTube alone
While there have been several reports that President Donald Trump's first rally since the coronavirus lockdown fell short of attendance expectations, it has now emerged that hundreds of thousands of people watched his speech online. To be exact, more than 500,000 people tuned in to Trump's “Great American Comeback” rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on various feeds across YouTube alone, per a report by The New York Times.
Initially, the Trump campaign had reportedly expected a packed arena at the 19,000-seat BOK center and anticipated that thousands of more supporters would be watching the event from outside.
Even Brad Parscale, manager of the president's re-election campaign, touted how more than 800,000 people registered for tickets and branded it the “biggest data haul and rally signup of all time by 10x.”
But after the lower-than-expected turnout, the Trump campaign blamed “protestors, coupled with a relentless onslaught from the media.”
"President Trump is rallying in Tulsa with thousands of energetic supporters, a stark contrast to the sleepy campaign being run by Joe Biden from his basement in Delaware," Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement. "Sadly, protestors interfered with supporters, even blocking access to the metal detectors, which prevented people from entering the rally. Radical protestors, coupled with a relentless onslaught from the media, attempted to frighten off the President’s supporters."
"We are proud of the thousands who stuck it out," he added.
According to Breitbart, Trump was also originally scheduled to address the overflow crowd on a separate stage near the BOK center. However, the low turnout meant that part of the event had to be canceled.
However, despite the audience being way smaller than the president is used to addressing, he managed to fire off a barrage of zingers at his 2020 Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, he also promised to revive the American economy to its full glory after it was devastated by the Covid-19 onslaught.
“Joe Biden is not the leader of his party,” Trump declared, before attacking those who rioted and looted during the George Floyd protests. “Joe Biden is a helpless puppet of the radical left,” he added, drawing applause and cheers from people behind the podium.
“And he’s not radical left. I don’t think he knows what he is anymore. But he was never radical left. But he’s controlled by the radical left, and now he’s really controlled,” the president added.
Trump is known to feed off the energy of large crowds, but he hasn't been able to host a rally ever since the pandemic broke out.
"I've never seen anything like it. You are warriors. Thank you," Trump told the crowd, filled with people wearing red MAGA hats and Trump 2020 apparel. "We are the party of Abraham Lincoln and we are the party of law and order," he said.
The president warned supporters that Democrats were trying hard to erase America's heritage.
"The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments — our beautiful monuments — tear down our statues and punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control. We're not conforming," he declared.