Broadcasting live from a deserted, rain-soaked National Mall, Fox News Sunday inadvertently revealed that President Donald Trump’s “Great American State Fair” was not doing so great.
As Shannon Bream was interviewing panelists, rain was visible dripping from the roof behind them, and the National Mall stretched out into the distance, verdant and desolate.
As the segment cut to close-ups of the guests, rain could be seen falling behind them.
At one point in the hour-long broadcast, Bream threw to a reporter standing at the other end of the National Mall, the Capitol visible behind them through a haze, and the area around correspondent Lucas Tomlinson appeared completely empty of people.
In a pre-recorded segment, Bream met up with Ambassador Monica Crowley, a lead organizer of the fair, in front of the ferris wheel. A small crowd was seen milling around, despite sunny skies overhead.
Crowley then showed Bream around the Florida exhibit, which she recommended because “when you walk in you will smell oranges.”
Crowley then took Bream to the “FIFA fan zone,” where visitors can watch World Cup matches on a big screen. The area was dotted with tables fitted out with umbrellas, many of which were totally vacant, even though the segment appears to have been filmed on a day with better weather.
Crowley described the viewing area as “hugely popular.”
“We get thousands of people coming out to the National Mall, watching each and every match on that giant screen that you see there, and there’s a great sense of community that comes with all of this,” she said.
This is not the first instance of Fox News talking up the fair, despite the obvious visual evidence that it has not been very popular.
“We’ve got thousands of people celebrating this birthday,” a Fox panelist said from the same broadcast stage on Saturday, as a crowd of perhaps a few dozen people could be seen in the background.
