Translation of the Full Article
U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, a first of its kind after 110 days of coronavirus lockdown, failed to gather a crowd after teenage TikTok users campaigned for an organized “no-show”. Only around 6,200 supporters showed up for a Saturday campaign held in Tulsa Oklahoma in a stadium with the maximum capacity of 19,000 persons. This is the result of activists and K-pop fans on TikTok not showing up after making reservations en masse.
Key Summary: The Trump campaign suffered an embarrassment, having projected a crowd of a million supporters. Many of these young TikTok users participated in the no-show protest are yet to have rights to vote but still swayed a political event hosted by established figures.
The no-show movement and the Trump campaign: Trump has made racist remarks on his campaign trail. Teenage users of TikTok purchased tickets to a rally and decided not to attend.
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It all started with a TikTok video. Mary Jo Laupp, who worked for Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for Democratic party’s presidential nomination, posted a video on TikTok suggesting a no-show movement, pointing out Trump's lack of racial sensitivity and discriminatory remarks. The video went viral with over two million views in just a day.
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Young activists who watched Laupp's video uploaded their down videos persuading K-pop fans to join the movement. K-pop fans, known for their influence on social media, post 6 billion tweets in 2019.
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The Trump rally was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city known for Tulsa Massacre. In 1921, the city’s white crowd attacked an affluent Black neighborhood, injuring 6,000 and killing at least 30 people. Many activists angered at the rally held on Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation, in the city with a history of racial oppression.
Political Participation of Gen Z: Many K-pop fans actively express their political opinions on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok or Twitter.
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In response to a tweet from Trump’s campaign account asking for happy birthday messages to Trump, thousands of users responded with the photo of the late former senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008 and a Trump critic.
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Earlier this month, Dallas Police Department urged reporting suspicious behavior at a protest against racial discrimination. In response, K-pop fans uploaded millions videos of their favorite artists to the Dallas Police website, shutting down the page for hours.
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Steve Schmidt, a campaign strategist for former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former president George W. Bush, said “the teens of America have struck a savage blow against Donald Trump.” Democratic Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted a “Shout out to Zoomers”. “Y’all make me so proud,” said Ocasio Cortez.
Prospects: Trump's re-election is uncertain as concerns over the failure of the COVID-19 response and the structural racism against African Americans rise to the surface. Trump is lagging behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden in recent polls in key battleground states. Despite this, Trump continues to mobilize his supporters by relying on the rhetoric of hate. At the Saturday rally, Trump again made a racist joke, referring to COVID-19 as a “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu.”
