Teens on TikTok sabotaged Trump's Tulsa turnout, AOC says
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to take pleasure Saturday night in reports that the turnout for President Trump’s Tulsa, Okla., rally was lower than expected.
In a Twitter post, Ocasio-Cortez claimed the Trump campaign had been scammed by teenage anti-Trump activists who allegedly reserved scores of tickets for the Tulsa event online – then failed to show up, thus preventing others from being able to attend.
“Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok,” the New York Democrat wrote in response to a Twitter message by Trump 2020 Campaign chief Brad Parscale, who argued that “Radical protestors” in Tulsa had prevented some of the president’s supporters from entering the BOK Center, where the rally was held.
Tim Murtaugh, a Trump 2020 Campaign spokesman, reiterated the Parscale claim of protester interference, The New York Times reported.
TV images showed much of the upper tier of Tulsa's BOK Center remained empty during the rally, with other space visible in the lower seating areas as well -- a different result than the big turnout the Trump campaign had predicted during the week.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed that teens “flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID.
“Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Supporters participate in the Pledge of Allegiance during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Getty Images)
In a separate message, Ocasio-Cortez thanked “KPop allies,” a term referring to fans of Korean pop music.
“KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too,” the congresswoman wrote.
It wasn’t clear if Ocasio-Cortez knew of the alleged scheme in advance, or if she was reacting to media reports.
An Iowa woman posted a video on TikTok last week, encouraging people to participate in the alleged scam, CNN reported.
“All of those of us that want to see this 19,000 seat auditorium barely filled or completely empty go reserve tickets now and leave him standing alone there on the stage,” the woman, identified as Mary Jo Laupp, told her TikTok follwers.
Thousands of other TikTok users posted similar messages as the plan spread online, The New York Times reported.
“It spread mostly through Alt TikTok -- we kept it on the quiet side where people do pranks and a lot of activism,” YouTuber Elijah Daniel, 26, told the Times. “K-pop Twitter and Alt TikTok have a good alliance where they spread information amongst each other very quickly. They all know the algorithms and how they can boost videos to get where they want.”
Many of those participating in the alleged scam deleted their posts after 24 to 48 hours in a bid to limit word of the plan from spreading on mainstream social media, the Times report said.
“These kids are smart and they thought of everything,” Daniel told the paper.
KPop activists were previously linked to campaigns to raise money for Black Lives Matter, fight racist hashtags on Twitter and disrupt the eyewitness app of the Dallas Police Department, Vulture.com reported.