Donald Trump's team attempted the counter-offensive on Sunday after the disappointing relaunch of its re-election campaign, attributing to demonstrators and the media the low attendance at its meeting organized the day before in the middle of a pandemic. The Republican billionaire had assured last week that "nearly a million" people had demanded tickets for this meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a conservative state which he had won with an overwhelming majority in 2016.
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But the meeting was weighed down by images of rows of empty seats, the news that six members of his team had just tested positive for Covid-19 and a speech criticized for not having addressed the health, economic crisis in depth. and the historic movement of anger against racism in the United States.
An outside speech canceled for lack of people
If Donald Trump, 74, has once again demonstrated his energy, walking the scene for almost two hours, even the media prized by the Conservatives pointed out this failure on Sunday. Donald Trump is "furious," NBC and The New York Times reported , citing anonymous sources.
The president, who likes to talk about the crowds who come to see him, explained that if the sports hall, which can accommodate some 20,000 people, was not enough, a nearby conference center could accommodate around 40,000 people. But for lack of people, he canceled at the last minute Saturday evening a speech scheduled for spectators who could not enter.
His team accuses the demonstrators
Tulsa firefighters counted only 6,200 spectators during his speech, according to American media. But officials from the Donald Trump campaign team said there were at least 12,000 spectators.
"There were several factors at play, such as concerns about the protesters who were to come," said influential Donald Trump team advisor Mercedes Schlapp on Sunday. "There were protesters who blocked" the entry of participants, she also said on Fox News, adding that families may not have dared to come with their "children because of concerns over protesters ". Journalists on site did not report any major blockages at the entrances. An impressive police and military system had been deployed around the perimeter.
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First large rally organized in a closed room during the Covid-19 pandemic, which killed nearly 120,000 people in the United States, the Donald Trump meeting had been strongly criticized, experts fearing that it could worsen the contagion even where Oklahoma is experiencing a strong surge in the number of cases detected.