House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been extremely vocal about her disappointment in Donald Trump during his time in the White House. But the coronavirus pandemic has seemingly heightened her frustration with the impeached president. On Sunday, the @TeamPelosi Twitter account made that clear, when it tweeted out that Trump’s rally could have been a Zoom meeting, given its low turnout.
In response to a tweet saying Trump’s actual turnout was 6,200, far below the projected crowd size and the arena capacity, Team Pelosi tweeted, “6200. That could have been a Zoom meeting. Same energy, minus the #coronavirus risk.”
Trump’s latest decision to hold a rally in Tulsa at the height of the coronavirus pandemic is a move that frustrated health officials and several key legislators. In addition to their concern over the lack of social distancing for his supporters, they were also nervous about the community spread that could stem from such a large-scale event.
Hours before the rally that was marred with controversy from its onset, the Trump campaign, media outlets, and attendees could tell that the projected numbers given for crowd size were grossly overestimated. Trump said a million people had requested tickets for the event and the campaign expected 200,000 to be in the immediate area. By Saturday evening, the additional stage built for the “overflow” crowd was dismantled, and supporters who hadn’t secured tickets for the inside venue were encouraged to enter the arena to fill seats. Based on a count from the Tulsa Fire Marshal, close to 13,000 seats remained empty.
Trump campaign manager Brad Pascale tweeted on Saturday night, “Radical protestors, fueled by a week of apocalyptic media coverage, interfered with @realDonaldTrump supporters at the rally. They even blocked access to the metal detectors, preventing people from entering. Thanks to the 1,000s who made it anyway!” But there is no evidence that there was a strong effort from protesters, if any at all, to keep attendees from entering.
The disappointing turnout is said to be deeply troubling to Trump, who has to face Biden whose lead recently doubled over Trump to 12 points in a national poll.