On Sunday night, John Oliver took a break from his ongoing flame war with “racist” Fox News host Tucker Carlson to roast President Trump over the embarrassingly low attendance at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night.
Prior to the event, White House officials—along with Trump—boasted repeatedly that over a million people had registered for the ego-stroking endeavor, and that the crowd would be so large that they needed to construct an overflow area outside the Bank of Oklahoma Center arena to house all of the accused serial sexual abuser’s adoring fans. And yet, according to the Tulsa Fire Department, only 6,200 people attended Trump’s rally, accounting for less than one-third of the venue’s 19,000 capacity.
“There’s absolutely no one in the room with me right now, although interestingly, that’s still somehow only slightly fewer people than were at President Trump’s Oklahoma rally last night, which was half-empty despite his campaign claiming that a million people had requested tickets—and even building an outdoor stage so he would be able to do a second speech to the thousands that couldn’t get in. That speech turned out to be very much unnecessary,” joked Oliver.
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Indeed, the showing was so lackluster that the president was reportedly “furious” at the “underwhelming” crowd, according to NBC News. If that weren’t enough, six members of Trump’s advance team in Tulsa tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the event.
“So few people turned up, in fact, that even Pink was tweeting, ‘I think I sold that place out in five minutes. #donkeyshow,’” explained Oliver, referring to the pop star. “And it’s never a great sign when, as president, you’re getting dunked on by Pink.”
President Trump had initially scheduled the rally—his first in 110 days, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that’s claimed over 120,000 American lives and counting—on Juneteenth (June 19), the day when American slaves were freed (which Trump reportedly learned of only weeks ago). That he did so on that date, and in Tulsa, the site of one of the largest terrorist attacks on Black Americans in U.S. history, felt particularly cruel.
After a public outcry, the date was changed—much to Trump’s chagrin, since he felt the divisive Juneteenth date would draw more viewers, reported CNN
