Attendees at a pro-Trump rally in Washington DC on Friday blamed the sunny weather and agitators after only a few dozen people showed up for the event.
According to The Daily Beast, only 27 people attended the event billed as the “Stop the Tyrants & Unite for Freedom” rally. Included in that number are two paid security guards and five activists who showed up in protest.
Donald Trump was not in attendance at the event. However, organizers played footage of his speeches before the first speaker took to the stage to address the gathering.
John Paul Moran, the founder of the group GOUSA and organizer of the rally called the protesters “paid agitators” and members of ANTIFA. Matt Braynard, a frequent guest on Steve Bannon’s podcast, also blamed the five protesters for trying to derail the rally with whistles.
“I want you to recognize something,” Braynard said. “They are trying to interrupt. That’s why they’re blowing the whistle. To make it hard to hear us!”
Other attendees came up with their own theories to explain why the event flopped. Deborah Weiss, a right-wing speaker and lawyer blamed the organizers for scheduling the event on a sunny Friday afternoon when “a lot of people work,” adding, “it’s very, very hard for conservative groups to get their message out right before the election.”
Weiss also blamed big tech for engaging in nefarious acts, such as sending email invitations to people’s spam folders. “They didn’t go into my inbox. They disappeared entirely. Hard to get the message out!” Weiss said.
Another attendee blamed the low turnout on Trump supporters not wanting to be back in DC after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
But, the low turnout didn’t seem to matter to Moran. He told the Daily Beast that the event was a “success” considering the fact that he “put the word out literally about a week ago” he said.
This marks the second time in less than two weeks that a pro-Trump rally in DC failed.
