There were neither massive crowds nor deafening roars from adoring masses as Americans refused to show-up in the expected droves at president Donald Trump's first rally since March 3.
What Trump saw with his own eyes inside the 19,0000-seat BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday evening -- which he said would be filled in excess of capacity -- were rows of empty seats and crowds not as boisterous as he'd expected.
Critics quickly proclaimed Trump's heavily-hyped return to the campaign trail a complete flop -- which it was based on Trump's favorite metric of crowd size. They also said the small crowd size was a reflection of polling numbers showing Trump's waning popularity amid voter anger directed at him for mishandling the COVID-19 crisis and protests demanding racial justice.
The BOK center was one-third to one-half empty, according to some estimates, meaning there were about 13,000 to fewer than 10,000 people in attendance. A secondary venue outside the stadium built to handle an estimated 40,000 overflow attendees had so few people it was dismantled. Trump and vice president Mike Pence cancelled a planned appearance at the venue upon learning only a few hundred people were there.
Even right-wing media couldn't spin the disappointing crowd size as a win for Trump. The Drudge Report, a staunchly right-wing website, published an all-caps headline screaming, "MAGA LESS MEGA," with a picture of rows and rows of empty seats. Liberal and right-wing news media broadcast video of the partially empty stadium for the world to see.
Aides interviewed by media said Trump was furious about the smaller-than-expected crowd inside the stadium and the small numbers of people at the outdoor stage. The disappointing crowd size belies Trump's claim one million people had signed-up to attend his rally. In the event, most Oklahomans had the great good sense to heed the calls of alarmed state health official, who stridently warned Oklahoma was now experiencing a record spike in daily COVID-19 cases.
Health officials warned the rally had the makings of a super-spreader event. It urged people that attended to self-quarantine for 14 days after coming home from Trump's rally.
Political pundits said Trump's Tulsa flop is a bad omen for November. They surmise Trump might now start believing a mass of polls showing him badly trailing Biden.
Trump's rambling speech was focused on instilling anger and division at Trump's foes, especially the Democrats and their presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
Trump's son, Eric, set the tone for his father's speech by describing anti-racism protesters as "animals." His father followed-up on this by resorting to racist memes to attack protestors.
Trump said "they want to demolish our heritage." He ranted about the brutality of gangs, falsely claiming that if Biden were elected president, "our country will be destroyed."
Trump made it clear he doesn't believe the COVID-10 pandemic ravaging the U.S. is as bad as it seems. He said the numbers look bad because there's more testing.
"I said to my people, slow the testing down, please," he exclaimed in an outright repudiation of a key weapon that's kept the pandemic from worsening.
True to his narcissistic personality, Trump offered not a single word of compassion for the nearly 120,000 people in this U.S. that have died from COVID-19. He also made no mention of George Floyd.
Most of the thousands of Trump supporters at the rally didn't wear masks or stand six feet apart. Trump didn't wear a mask.
