In the aftermath of Trump’s rally over the weekend that failed to draw the large crowds the campaign boasted about, “Fox & Friends” hosts admitted on Monday that convening an indoor rally amid a pandemic that has seen recent spikes across the country may not have been the best idea.
"Fox & Friends" hosts on Monday debated why Trump's rally turnout was so low on Saturday. While fear of "anarchists" was one conclusion, host Steve Doocy proposed another: "I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put 20,000 people in a room — with masks optional." pic.twitter.com/zJ8ixlJ4WZ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) June 22, 2020
While Trump’s campaign team had bragged about a shortage of seating to accommodate upward of a million requests to attend the Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, fewer than 6,500 people actually showed up — filling the BOK Center to just about half its capacity.
“They have to think about how they want to do it from here,” co-host Kilmeade said. “Let’s be honest, as experienced as anyone is, no one has ever been through a campaign with a pandemic and civil unrest, two things out of control of Democrats and Republicans.”
Kilmeade said that the campaign will have to regroup ahead of its upcoming Arizona event, a state that has recently seen a rise in new COVID-19 cases.
Co-host Steve Doocy noted that fear of “anarchists” causing a ruckus at the rally was a one idea that had been batted around to explain the attendance flop on Saturday, but he said the indoor scene with no mask requirement was another more probable one.
“I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to put 20,000 people in a room with masks optional,” he said, in spite of repeated calls from critics, who, ahead of Saturday’s rally, cautioned the president’s team to rethink the indoor event. “They want to do something big, think stadium. Think an amphitheater. Think about a NASCAR track. Lots of room, outside, people can social distance and feel safe.”
