Trump 'furious' about 'underwhelming' crowd at Tulsa rally

Source: NBC News | June 21, 2020 | Monica Alba, Kristen Welker and Carol E. Lee

“This was a major failure,” one outside adviser said.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is “furious” at the “underwhelming” crowd at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday evening, a major disappointment for what had been expected to be a raucous return to the campaign trail after three months off because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple people close to the White House.

The president was fuming at his top political aides Saturday even before the rally began after his campaign revealed that six members of the advance team on the ground in Tulsa had tested positive for COVID-19, including Secret Service personnel, a person familiar with the discussions said.

Trump asked those around him why the information was exposed and expressed annoyance that the coverage ahead of his mega-rally was dominated by the revelation.

While the Trump re-election effort boasted that it would fill BOK Center, which seats more than 19,000 people, only 6,200 supporters ultimately occupied the general admission sections, the Tulsa fire marshal told NBC News.

The campaign was so confident about a high turnout that it set up an overflow area, which it had expected to attract thousands. But the plan was scrapped at the last minute when only dozens gathered at the time the vice president and the president were set to address the crowd inside.

“It’s politics 101: You under-promise and overdeliver,” a Trump ally said, conceding the missteps the Trump 2020 team took in the lead-up to the event by saying nearly 1 million people had responded to requests for admission.

Much of the blame is falling on campaign manager Brad Parscale, who in the days leading up the event aggressively touted the number of registrations, but those close to him stress that his job is safe, for now.

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  • Discussion
  • Consistent June 21, 2020 at 9:29 pm #40388

    Consistent June 21, 2020 at 9:29 pm #40389

    Consistent June 21, 2020 at 9:34 pm #40390

    Consistent June 21, 2020 at 9:48 pm #40392

    Consistent June 21, 2020 at 11:50 pm #40393

    EVERYDAY June 22, 2020 at 6:25 am #40394

    Trump should be grateful anyone showed up for his rock star appearance at all under the circumstances. Yes, maybe some of the low attendance can be attributed to people getting tickets with no intention of attending. But maybe there were also some people out there who were smart enough to consider the risks of attending during a pandemic and a time of potential violence and concluded that attending this show was just not safe.

    I also expect that maybe some enthusiasm for Trump has waned since 2016. Perhaps people are seeing through his snake oil sales technique and realize he has not been the president they had hoped for.

    I expect someone from the campaign will be fired over this fiasco and that’s a shame. If Trump did not have such a massive ego and showed concern for his fans’ well being, he would not be having these rallies in the first place.

    Consistent June 22, 2020 at 11:37 am #40398

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