This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
On Saturday, June 20, 2020, Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but the event was met with a sparse crowd at the BOK Center.
The Trump campaign claimed 12,000 people attended the rally, but the Tulsa fire department reported only 6,200 attendees, leaving vast banks of empty seats.
Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager, blamed the low attendance on 'a week's worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of Covid and protesters.'
However, public health officials had warned against holding a large indoor gathering due to the rise of Covid-19 cases in Oklahoma, and some observers speculated that fear of the virus may have stopped some supporters from attending the rally.
Trump was reportedly 'furious' at the event, which followed a week of controversy about whether it should even be held.
According to NBC, Trump was 'particularly angry that before he even left DC, aides made public that six members of the team in Tulsa tested positive for Covid-19.'
Trump's daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, were also reportedly 'pissed' that Parscale had promised huge crowds.
As the re-election campaign heats up, pressure has increased on Parscale, who has been widely credited for his work on the 2016 campaign.
