Shortly after the rally was announced on twitter, K-pop fans began circulating the sign-up information, encouraging people to register and then not attend. It was then picked up by TikTok users who posted videos to the platform doing the same.

Because of the large numbers expected, there were plans for the President to address crowds directly before heading inside the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, tweeted the day before the rally that anyone who wasn’t able to get inside would still get to hear the President speak.

Plans for Trump to speak to overflow areas were ditched last minute when it became obvious crowd turnout was much lower than expected. Of the million people expected in attendance, only about 6,200 showed up.

The campaign team had bragged about the size of the expected crowds ahead of the rally,  prompting critics to later mock coverage showing empty grandstands.

Trump critics praised pranksters

The initial narrative supported by many media outlets was that K-pop fans and TikTok users were the sole cause of the disappointing crowds. A tweet from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a long-standing critic of the President, seemed to support this narrative.