A report from the Washington Post’s Philip Rucker and Robert Costa suggested that Donald Trump likely failed in his attempt to halt his slide in the polls with his “defiant” speech at a poorly-attended rally in Tulsa on Saturday night.
With critics both mocking the turnout and calling the overly-hyped event a “disaster,” the reporters note that the president went before the crowd trying to shore up his image as the commander in chief at a time when his re-election prospects are increasingly looking in doubt.
He threatened violence against protesters, endangered his supporters by flouting health recommendations and endured a 110-day, coronavirus-induced dry spell, but when President Trump finally stepped back onto his rally stage Saturday night in Tulsa, he saw a sea of blue seats,” their report began. “The thousands of empty arena chairs, after his campaign had hyped overflow crowds and ticket requests totaling more than 1 million, symbolized the beleaguered state of Trump’s presidency and of his quest to win a second term.”
While Trump hit all of his usual marks, with racist appeals to his base and attacking the media, the report notes that Trump’s old magic is not working anymore.