A bunch of K-Pop and TikTok fans have claimed responsibility for ruining the most recent Donald Trump by requesting tickets they never planned to use.
Quick question for you; What’s the easiest way to mess with an unapologetic narcissist? Well if the narcissist in question is Donald Trump, you need to do little more than appeal to his ego before you completely trash it.
That’s pretty much what went down in the US city of Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, when Trump appeared before a woefully-poor turnout for his comeback rally.
For those out of the loop, this past weekend saw America’s Racist in Chief head along to the southern city to address his cult pander to his followers with a poorly-thought-out rally.
In case you’re wondering why this was a bad idea, well, let’s take stock of the situation. Firstly, there’s the fact that America is firmly losing the battle against COVID-19, with more than 2,000 cases (and 66 deaths) in Tulsa county alone, meaning that mass gatherings are a pretty terrible idea right now.
Then there’s the fact that Trump chose June 19th as the original date for his rally. Again, for those unaware, June 19th (or ‘Juneteenth’) is the unofficial holiday which serves to commemorate the day in which slavery was abolished in the US. Despite Trump’s claim that no President has “done more for our black community” than he, his track record makes the choosing of this date look like a pretty poor decision.
Last, but not least, there’s the fact that with the global backdrop of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, and Trump’s criticism of the handling of these protests, his visit to Tulsa took place just weeks after the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre – an infamous event which saw white Tulsans effectively wage war against their black neighbours, resulting in countless deaths.
So with this in mind, many critics of Trump found themselves looking for a way to get back at the controversial politician. One of these ways came about via social media, where it was noted that tickets to Trump’s rally were not only free, but required very little effort to to secure them.
Logically, folks began to follow in the footsteps of 50 Cent, requesting tickets with no intention of showing up.
As The New York Times have reported though, this campaign – apparently led by K-Pop fans and users of TikTok – appears to have been successful, with the event being labelled something of a flop.
All told, Trump claimed that more than a million people had requested tickets to the event. While the venue itself – the BOK Center – had a capacity of 19,199, a total of 6,200 people (countered by Trump as being in excess of 12,000) reportedly attended the event in the end.
The poor turnout even forced Trump to cancel a planned speech to the overflow crowd waiting outside. While it’s not outside the realm of possibility for Trump to deliver a speech to a non-existent crowd, we can only assume his campaign team decided it was a bad idea to let him do so.
Ultimately though, the crowds (or lack thereof) didn’t miss much. Frankly, between watching a grown man complain about how he was mistreated by the media, labelling COVID-19 as the “kung flu”, bragging about how he can walk down ramps, and how he can drink a glass of water with one hand, you’d have had more fun while watching a talent show from a group of newborns. (At least they’d have a better chance at pulling in an audience.)
Check out Trump’s Tulsa rally:
Though the Trump campaign blamed protesters for the lower-than-expected turnout, campaign manager Brad Parscale blasted the idea that the turnout was caused by the likes of TikTok and K-Pop fans, effectively claiming that they outsmarted such tactics by weeding out bogus requests for tickets.
“Leftists and online trolls doing a victory lap, thinking they somehow impacted rally attendance, don’t know what they’re talking about or how our rallies work,” Parscale explained in a statement.
“Reporters who wrote gleefully about TikTok and K-Pop fans – without contacting the campaign for comment – behaved unprofessionally and were willing dupes to the charade.”
“Registering for a rally means you’ve RSVPed with a cell phone number and we constantly weed out bogus numbers, as we did with tens of thousands at the Tulsa rally, in calculating our possible attendee pool,” he continued.
“These phony ticket requests never factor into our thinking. What makes this lame attempt at hacking our events even more foolish is the fact that every rally is general admission – entry is on a first-come-first-served basis and prior registration is not required.”
With this in mind, it does leave a rather important question to be asked. If TikTok users and K-Pop fans are not to blame for low attendance numbers, and if only a small number of peaceful protesters were arrested at the event, wouldn’t it save more face to admit you’d been trolled than to infer the other obvious conclusion? Y’know, that the Crybaby in Chief is in fact losing supporters – especially in a state that is historically Republican?
Whatever the case, the fact remains that the only thing that will result in Donald Trump being unable to continue his reign of racist hate is if American voters actively vote against him on November 3rd. If you’re American, or have American friends reading this, remember to vote like you’re the tiebreaker when this November comes.
Or, if you can’t do that, remember that Donald Trump has another rally scheduled in Arizona on Monday and they’re looking for volunteers. Wouldn’t it be a shame if this one was a dud, too?
Check out footage of Donald Trump being embarrassed in Tulsa:
