Trump Thought 60,000 People Would Show Up In Tulsa, But Only 6,000 Did

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:03 pm

The Trump campaign thought that their worst-case scenario was a crowd of 60,000 for his Tulsa rally, but they were 54,000 short.

Via Politico:

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.

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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.

The Trump campaign is discussing no longer holding mega rallies. They are considering holding smaller events outdoors and in airport hangers, but the rally attendance is only part of their problem. The Trump campaign has no idea how to get the focus off of Trump and on to Joe Biden.

Trump is only interested in talking about himself, which mortally wounds their efforts to make the election about the former vice president. The Trump campaign can’t seem to find reasons for people to vote for reelecting Trump, and they have no argument for why people shouldn’t vote for Biden.

Without an opponent to demonize, Trump is lost. The President also hasn’t shifted his strategy to account for the reality that he is the incumbent, and no longer a political outsider.

The Trump campaign was not well run in 2016, and they are being exposed in 2020.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association