The rally was meant to be a turning point in Trump’s fortunes and efforts to take on Biden. Instead, Trump was furious and his campaign is reeling.
Donald Trump’s campaign advisers had it all mapped out: A blowout rally in Oklahoma — coupled with a withering ad launched days earlier questioning Joe Biden’s mental acuity — would finally shift the focus to the elusive Democrat amid the worst stretch of Trump’s presidency.
The ad tested well, and Trump attacked Biden extensively during the Saturday night event, saying the former vice president has “surrendered to his party and to the left-wing mob.” But his remarks were lost in a meandering and grievance-filled two-hour speech, which included a lengthy rendition of him drinking water during his West Point commencement speech a week earlier.
Trump was described as furious over the negative media coverage of the rally, much of which focused on the president’s failure to fill the arena and the idea that the president’s loyalists were cooling in their support. Some people close to the president suspected he’d been overeager to restart rallies at a time when the public was still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and racial protests.
Still, interest in the event was high. About 1.1 million people registered to attend, forcing aides to begin making plans to stage an added outdoor event. Aides knew the 1.1 million figure was inflated: After sorting through the sign-ups — a process that included looking at registrants’ voting histories — they determined that about 300,000 were fake.
To winnow down the likely audience further, advisers estimated that only between 200,000 and 300,000 people lived within immediate driving distance. Worst-case scenario, they concluded, was an audience of about 60,000.
But when they woke up Saturday morning, Trump advisers realized things were going downhill. Protesters were convening outside the arena. News emerged that a half-dozen advance staffers had tested positive for coronavirus, a revelation that angered the president ahead of his departure for Oklahoma and further amplified fears that the event could spread the disease. Hours before the rally was to get underway, it became clear to the president’s lieutenants that a debacle was underway and that there would be a patchwork of empty seats.
Making matters worse was the campaign was it’s initial declaration that 1 million people had signed up to see Trump in Tulsa, a boast that was now destined to fall on its face.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/21/donald-trump-oklahoma-campaign-debacle-333263