Well, Trump’s attempt to restart his reelection campaign with a rally in Tulsa Saturday night didn’t go quite as planned. In fact, to call it “a major disappointment” seems to me to be a gross understatement.
POTUS and his advisers wanted and planned for a packed house, around 20,000. Instead, they ended up with about a third of that number, and I guess the best outcome now possible is the hope that most of those attending don’t end up with the virus. Oh, boy.
Okay, it’s possible that one reason attendance fell short was because young people punked the Prez by reserving tickets online even though they had no intention of attending. I imagine POTUS and crew are wondering where the Russian bots are when you need them. I digress.
In any event, it amazes this citizen journalist that anyone would be silly enough to attend this event in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed around 120,000 American lives and counting. Oh, wait. I forgot the audience.
Still, the Prez is reportedly livid and distraught by the lackluster showing.
Here’s from NBC News:
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.
And more:
Many issues could have contributed to the poor attendance in Tulsa: a fear of contracting the virus, concern over potential protests and torrential thunderstorms in 95-degree heat. But outside advisers see the visuals of empty seats overshadowing Trump’s remarks as a significant problem for a president and a campaign that are obsessed with optics.
“This was a major failure,” one outside adviser said.
Yep. A major failure.
And maybe the failure of this event portends even worse times ahead for the Trump campaign. Maybe people have finally caught on to the fact that Trump is both a con man and a danger to this country. And it doesn’t appear to me that he has any compelling argument for why he deserves a second term
Given all that, there are going to be plenty of empty seats at upcoming campaign events.
And in January, we’ll have a new President sitting in the Oval Office, with or without a face mask.
Writing Above The Clouds 