The Power of TikTok: Trump’s Disappointing Tulsa Turnout

K-Pop stans are RUTHLESS

(Evan Vucci / AP Images)

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TikTokers and K-pop stans are forces to be reckoned with. 

Trump expected hordes of eager supporters to show up to his rally on June 20, the first scheduled since quarantine began. Five days before, he wrote a ballsy tweet claiming that almost one million people requested tickets for the rally. 

Note: the venue only houses 19,000 seats. So did 19,000 people show up? Nope. 

According to the Tulsa Fire Department, only about 6,200 people attended. And the explanation to this can be found on TikTok’s For You page. 

TikTok user @maryjolaupp encouraged users to reserve seats for Trump’s rally and not show face on the big day. What started as one video got the presidential prank ball rolling and prompted a slew of Gen-Zers to get in on the joke.

The prank spread through TikTok and eventually bubbled over onto Twitter, home of the notorious K-pop stans. And let me tell you, they are RUTHLESS.

Once K-pop Twitter got a hold of this, the fearsome fandom organized to help pull a fast one on Trump. When K-pop stans do something, they know how to do it right. Now, everyone knows that the president of the United States got owned by a bunch of teenagers.

But let’s be real, there were always problems with this rally.

The rally was originally scheduled for Juneteenth, coincidentally (or maybe not) a holiday celebrating the end of slavery.

To add fuel to the fire, the rally was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where white supremacists attacked successful Black residents’ homes and businesses during the Tulsa Massacre in 1921. 

They did not think that one through.

This obvious slap in the face caused well-deserved outrage, and the rally was rescheduled for June 20th. 

From coronavirus concerns to attendees being scared off by protesters, excuses keep showing up to Trump’s pity party. The thing is, an alarming amount of attendees were not wearing masks, and there were very few protesters outside the rally. 

While TikTok pranks are all fun and games, let's have a look at the bigger picture here. 

Trump’s campaign is only getting started, and Gen Z has already put a dent in one of his most crucial campaign strategies. 

It only took eight days for youth across America to get together and completely embarrass the President. If only we could put this much effort into getting Gen Z to vote during this upcoming election...Oh, wait. We can.

In the 2016 presidential election, the reported voting rate for ages 18-29 was 24.8% lower than that of ages 65 and up. Kind of pathetic.

Considering the rise of social media activism following the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement, we BETTER see an increase in those youth votes. 

Gen Z, it’s time to put your money (or your vote) where your mouth is. 

A story repost isn’t enough. If you can rally together to prank the president in eight days, you can rally together to kick him out of the white house in the next five months. Bottom line: Our generation can have a tremendous effect when working towards a common goal, TikTok prank or not. 

If you haven’t already, register to vote here. Wasting your vote is a waste of your voice — a voice that desperately needs to be heard. 

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Christelle Pierre is an Online Writer at Rowdy Magazine. When not writing, one can find Christelle holding a YA novel in one hand and an iced coffee in the other. She can be reached on Instagram @x.hristelle