A group of Never Trump Republicans released an ad with blistering personal attacks on President Trump over the crowd size of his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The ad, released by the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans and independents co-founded by George Conway, husband to presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, mocked Trump for greatly overestimating how many people would show up at the Saturday event.
“@realDonaldTrump, your rally in Tulsa was a flop. You’ve probably heard this before, but it was smaller than we expected — and it sure wasn’t as big as you promised,” the group said in a tweet sharing the new ad.
.@realDonaldTrump, your rally in Tulsa was a flop. You’ve probably heard this before, but it was smaller than we expected — and it sure wasn’t as big as you promised. pic.twitter.com/TOHY1ZOKxM
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 21, 2020
“You’ve probably heard this before, but it was smaller than we expected,” a narrator in the ad says as an image is focused on Trump’s hands. “It sure wasn’t as big as you promised. Honestly, we’re not surprised.”
The ad also says, “You talk a big game, and can’t deliver. Sad, weak, low-energy, just like your presidency. Just like you.”
Before the rally, Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale heightened expectations, boasting that more than a million ticket requests had been submitted to attend the rally. But it was clear in the hours preceding the event that the arena would not reach full capacity. The campaign even canceled events that were planned outside for an overflow crowd that never materialized.
The Tulsa Fire Department said Sunday that there were approximately 6,200 people in the BOK Center, which is about one-third of the arena’s capacity.
The Trump campaign blamed the coronavirus, the media, and protesters as the driving forces behind the lower-than-expected attendance.
The White House rejected reports that said Trump was unhappy with the way his weekend rally unfolded. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president was in “good spirits” during a Monday morning interview on Fox & Friends.
