President Donald Trump must be getting used to throwing parties that not many people show up for, as the crowd for the days-long Great American State Fair, meant to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary, looks thin.
Leading up to the U.S. Semiquincentennial, the Trump administration has embarked on a series of projects in the nation’s capital to celebrate this July 4—from painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American flag blue” to hosting a UFC cage fight in the backyard of the White House.
But none are quite as grand as the fair on the National Mall. And yet nearly a week into its opening, it appears the effort has failed to attract much interest.
“Why does the ‘Great American State Fair’ look so empty & the only thing people care about is the Ferris Wheel,” a video posted to TikTok said, showing the National Mall with just a few dozen passersby.
“I’ve seen graveyards with more people,” a user commented. Another added, “there were more people in line for the Trader Joe’s summer tote bags.”
Even in videos where users seem excited to attend, the event doesn’t appear crowded.
In one video by a user named IdahoMAGAmom, who has more than 138,000 followers on TikTok, as she enters the Idaho booth at the fair, only a few dozen people can be spotted nearby.
“There are more people in this comment section,” one person replied. “It looks like a middle school science fair,” another added.
Photos from TMZ, which recently launched its Washington, D.C., bureau, have gone viral on social media for their depictions of the lackluster attendance.
One shows a crowd gathered to enter the Ferris Wheel—leaving the rest of the lawn nearly empty, with an elderly man on a scooter riding along.
In another, a man is seen lying down on the grass as if he’s passed out.
Naturally, the photos have sparked mockery of the event, with some using the image of the man on the grass as a sort of meme. “Idk it looks like people are literally dying to get in,” one user said with a close-up of the image.
“We’ve got thousands of people celebrating with us,” Joey Jones said on Fox News as B-roll of a nearly empty National Mall played in the background.
For many in the comment section, the sparse crowd became the starting point for jokes.
“Clearly many of the attendees managed to steal the invisibility cloaks from the leftist reflecting pool vandals,” a user said on X.
As expected, Trump isn’t pleased.
In a Truth Social post uploaded early Monday morning, the president said: “Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it? Ask yourself this simple question, “DO YOU THINK THAT OBUMA OR SLEEPY JOE BIDEN COULD HAVE DONE IT?” THE ANSWER IS NO!”
