- Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for Trump's 2020 campaign, said in a tweet on Sunday that 12,000 people attended the rally and "made it past protestors."
- But Andrew Little, a Tulsa Fire Department public information officer, confirmed to several outlets on Sunday that the number of attendees was just under 6,200 people, far fewer people than the Trump campaign was expecting.
- The rally's low turnout has been hailed a success by teenagers on TikTok, who claimed that they signed up for large numbers of tickets to the rally with no intention of attending.
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President Donald Trump's reelection campaign said that 12,000 people attended his comeback rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday — nearly double the official estimate put out by the Tulsa Fire Department.
Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for Trump's 2020 campaign, said in a tweet on Sunday that 12,000 people attended the rally and "made it past protestors."
Some facts about the Tulsa rally:
— Tim Murtaugh - Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) June 21, 2020
✅12,000 people made it past protestors thorough the metal detectors
✅The lower bowl of the arena holds 9,000 by itself & was full.
✅12,000 is about 11,990 more than attended Joe Biden’s last event.
✅Over 8.3 million have watched online
Murtaugh added that the lower bowl of the Bank of Oklahoma Center — the arena where the rally was held — was full. The BOK center can seat up to 19,199 people.
But official tallies said that rally attendance was well below the Trump campaign estimate.
Andrew Little, a Tulsa Fire Department public information officer, confirmed to several outlets on Sunday that the number of attendees was just under 6,200 people, far fewer people than the Trump campaign was expecting.
As others are reporting, looks like attendance here in Tulsa is well below campaign's expectations. Here's the main floor at the arena currently pic.twitter.com/EASfSHL5nN
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) June 20, 2020
According to The Hill, a fire marshall recorded the tally at around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The number did not account for members of the media, Trump's campaign staff, or those in suite seating.
Trump boasted in a tweet last week that nearly one million people requested tickets to the Tulsa rally.
But teenagers on TikTok claimed that they signed up for large numbers of tickets with no intention of attending in the hopes that Trump would be speaking to a near-empty stadium. The New York Times said that the huge online network of fans of Korean pop music, called K-pop, also participated in the social media movement.
Attendance at the rally was so poor that Trump was ultimately forced to cancel plans to make a speech outside of the stadium for the anticipated overflow of people who couldn't get inside. Reporters that attended the event referred to it as "sparsely filled."
The New York Times also fact-checked the Trump campaign's claim that there were protesters blocking the arena's entrance, with several news organizations reporting that protests were sparse and mostly peaceful.
Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, said in a statement that claims of "ticket hacking" were untrue.
"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 said. "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."
According to Parscale, Trump's campaign "weeded out" fake phone numbers used to sign up for rally tickets.
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