CBS News
Users on the social media app TikTok are claiming some credit for the disappointing turnout at the president’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the weekend, after a weeks-long campaign to artificially inflate the number of people registered to attend. The prank may have helped lead the Trump campaign to boast about more than a million people seeking tickets for the rally — while only about 6,200 ended up filling seats.
In the weeks leading up to the rally, TikTok users started spreading the idea of registering for free tickets with no intention of going — in hopes that they would take seats away from Trump supporters, and leave the president speaking to a hollowed-out stadium.
One of the most prominent posts about the prank came from 51-year-old Mary Jo Laupp, an Iowa woman who worked on Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign.
“I recommend that all of us who want to see this 19,000-seat auditorium barely filled or completely empty, go reserve tickets now, and leave him standing alone on the stage,” she said. “What do you say?”
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