Sunday, June 21, 2020

"Crowd" At Trump Rally Was Fewer Than 6,200 (Campaign Boasted More Than One Million Requests For Tickets, Arena Holds 19,200, Campaign Claims 12,000 In Attendance)

Turnout At Trump's Tulsa Rally Was Just Under 6,200–A Fraction Of The Venue's 19,200 Capacity
Andrew Solender, Forbes, June 21, 2020
The Trump campaign set expectations high for the rally, announcing that they had received more than a million ticket requests, despite the venue, the BOK Center, seating just 19,200.

Anticipating high turnout that would exceed that capacity, the campaign planned a second, outdoor speech to address the crowd in the overflow section.

But those hopes quickly evaporated on the evening of the rally, with reporters tweeting photos of the rally showing huge swaths of empty seats in the stadium.

The campaign ended up cancelling the second speech to the overflow section, with Communications Director Tim Murtaugh blaming the low turnout on the media and protesters, who he claimed blocked access to the entrance despite reports that nobody was turned away from the rally.

Andrew Little, the Public Information Officer for the Tulsa Fire Department, confirmed to Forbes on Sunday that a tally taken by the fire marshal clocked the turnout at just under 6,200 people, far fewer attendees than the campaign expected.

A Trump campaign staffer told Forbes on Sunday that turnout was 12,000, double what the Fire Department estimated.
A tweet from last night stated that a stagehand attempted a head count and came up with 6,611. That caused hilarity among Trump Haters. But it turns out that number was TOO HIGH!!!!

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