Donald Trump was “horrified” and “deflated” by the meager crowd of supporters who turned out for his weekend rally in Tulsa, according to various reports from outside observers and campaign insiders.
He was also furious — and fallout from his post-rally explosion was still descending on his re-election campaign Monday.
“Pictures of a half-full arena bore no resemblance to the sea of people Trump had been expecting and publicly predicting — a mistake, aides later said, because it raised expectations unrealistically,” CNN reports.
The Tulsa Fire Department’s official estimate put the MAGA crowd at fewer than 6,200 — less than one-third the 19,000 seating capacity of the Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) Center. At one point before the rally, there were wildly inflated reports that as many as a million people had sought tickets to attend.
Naturally, Trump is now blaming everyone except himself, which has ominous implications for leaders of his campaign, particularly campaign manager Brad Pascale — who in turn blames the news media.
“In a statement, Parscale blamed the low attendance on ‘a week’s worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of Covid and protesters,’ which he said ‘coupled with recent images of American cities on fire, had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally,’” says The Guardian.
Republican officials “say the Oklahoma mishap has scrambled plans for future arena-style rallies,” reports Politico. “One idea is to hold smaller events at outdoor venues like airport hangars or amphitheaters. There’s also discussion of holding them in nonurban areas to make it harder for protesters to gather en masse.”
But with Trump’s track record of dumping White House and campaign officials willy-nilly, the question isn’t so much whether, but how much and how soon he’ll shake things up now.
“Rumors of a potential shakeup have hung over the Trump campaign for weeks,” Politico says, “though Trump aides insisted no change was forthcoming. Parscale is close to the president and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has broad power over the reelection apparatus.”
It’s unclear, says CNN, “when — and how — Trump will move forward with his flagship political events. Some advisers suggested it could be weeks or even months before Trump attempts another rally, though as of Monday morning no decisions had been made on how to proceed.”
Trump will make two appearances outside Washington this week, although neither is an official campaign rally.
He’ll speak to a group of young supporters on Tuesday in Phoenix, and CNN says “aides are now working to ensure that [the] event will appear full.”
On Thursday, Trump will visit Wisconsin and make remarks during a tour of a shipyard that was recently approved to build up to 10 new frigates for the Navy, a deal that could be worth up to $5.5 billion.
That visit will follow one by Vice President Mike Pence to Wisconsin on Tuesday. Trump’s administration and campaign have focused closely on Wisconsin, a swing state that is scheduled to host the Democratic national convention in August.
