"Doesn't say great things when there are fewer people in your crowd than have credibly accused you of sexual assault," said Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump's much-hyped Tulsa rally last Friday was a catastrophic flop, with his campaign's anticipated crowd of 40,000 never materialising. Instead, there were only 6,200 people in attendance — less than a third of the arena's capacity.
"Now I don't want to be a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but half empty would be a huge improvement," said Colbert.
TikTok users and K-pop fans took some credit for Trump's overinflated expectations, with potentially thousands having signed up for the rally with no intention of attending. It wasn't as though they missed anything important, though. Trump spent over 10 minutes explaining that the ramp he appeared to have trouble with last week was actually very slippery, and he was wearing leather shoes, and the stage was very high, and there was no handrail. He also dedicated a few minutes to showing a cheering crowd that he could drink water with one hand.
"That's how low the bar is for Trump these days," said Colbert. "He gets applause for sipping water."
Trump's tiny crowd size was a blessing in more ways than one. Two staffers who attended have tested positive for COVID-19, and infections from the event are expected to rise. However, Trump seemed more interested in rehashing racist names for the coronavirus than responding to it, calling it "the Chinese virus" and "kung flu."
As Colbert notes, White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said in March that the term "kung flu" was "very hurtful and unhelpful," and wanted to know what anonymous person in the White House allegedly used it.
"Careful what you ask for Kellyanne. You know what they say, 'Ignorance is your boss,'" said Colbert. "But now that she knows who it is, you know that Kellyanne is going to march into the Oval Office and give that guy a piece of her soul."
