President Trump’s June campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., which sported a significantly lower turnout than expected, cost the president’s campaign roughly $2 million.
The campaign rally was Trump’s return to in-person campaigning, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing most traditional campaigning efforts for both Democrats and Republicans to take place online.
In order to just reserve the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa for the rally, the campaign had to pay more than $500,000, campaign filings submitted Monday reveal.
Then, almost $1 million was spent on “event staging,” paying more than $670,000 to Arcus Group; a company named LMG also received more than $425,000 for “audio visual services.”
The filings don’t explicitly say that the expenses are tied to the Tulsa rally, but the president didn’t have any other large, in-person political events the rest of the month.
Expecting a sold-out venue for the event, the campaign also set up a stage outside of the BOK Center. Trump had initially been slated to give remarks to supporters on both stages, but the because of the lower-than-expected turnout, he only spoke inside the arena.
Filings suggest that the campaign also spent a considerable amount on masks and other medical supplies, as it paid AW Medical Supplies nearly $150,000 for “event supplies.”
The business’s website features several photos of masks and states that the company’s goal is to “provide our customers with the vital supplies needed for an everyday basis, and especially in a time of crisis.”
The campaign offered everyone in attendance a mask and conducted temperature checks, but supporters weren’t required to wear masks.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.