After Tulsa, dejected Trump might take months before thinking of a rally as aides mull over gathering size
President Donald Trump's aides have started debating as to what his signature campaign rallies will be like after the Republican's Tulsa rally on June 20 saw swaths of empty blue seats and a vacant overflow venue. People familiar with the issue told CNN that there had been tentative plans to announce another upcoming rally shortly after the one in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Trump's flagship political rallies, however, are now in limbo as some advisers have indicated that it could take weeks or even months before the president attempts another rally. Although no decision has yet been made on how to proceed regarding the Republican's future political events ahead of the 2020 presidential elections.
Trump is set to address a group of young supporters on Tuesday, June 23. However, it will not be his quintessential rally. His aides, however, are reportedly working to ensure that the event appears to be full of his followers after the Tulsa rally fiasco.
The Trump campaign, last week, had said that the president's Tulsa rally at Bank of Oklahoma Center had received over a million requests for tickets. However, the coverage of the event showed that an area meant for overflow was largely empty, and there were thousands of empty seats inside the arena too. According to the Tulsa Fire Department, the turnout at the event was just under 6,200 people, less than half the venue's capacity.
The president's campaign, on June 11, had tweeted urging people to use their phones to register for free tickets for the Tulsa rally. Reports state that K-pop fans shared the information with their groups and urged the followers to get the tickets and not show up for the rally. The plan quickly spread and TikTok users also followed the lead of K-pop fans, with a 51-year-old woman reportedly leading part of the charge on TikTok, according to CNN. She posted the video, asking people to "reserve tickets now and leave him standing alone there on the stage."
Shortly after the event, hundreds of pictures of a half-full arena flooded the social media, and bore no resemblance to the crowd Trump and his campaign had been expecting for the Republican's first rally amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump, at the rally, instead of denouncing his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden, appeared to deliver a disjointed speech that catered to more of the audience's entertainment than to drive votes.
As he was leaving for the Tulsa rally from the White House, Trump had told reporters that he was expecting a record crowd at the event. "The crowds are unbelievable," Trump had said. "They haven't seen anything like it." However, after his rally, Trump appeared dejected as he returned to the White House. Many social media users were quick to point out that the Republican looked "defeated" and appeared disheveled, with his tie undone. Trump, on Saturday night, June 20, was seen walking out of Marine One and had a seemingly dejected look on his face as he waved to the waiting photographers.
The Trump campaign has since rubbished the idea that they were "pranked" by youngsters, with the campaign's director of communications, Tim Murtaugh, tweeting: "Trolls thinking they hacked rally tix don’t know how this works. Lame trick tried many times. We weed out bogus RSVPs with fake phone #s." Murtaugh, instead, said that the "real factor" why the participation in Trump's rally was so less was because of the "media-stoked fear" of the coronavirus pandemic.
