Karoline Leavitt Accidentally Shows How Empty Donald Trump's State Fair Is in Awkward Photo

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sparked widespread online mockery after posting a photo on X intended to promote President Donald Trump's Great American State Fair, only for the background to expose exceptionally sparse crowds.

The Trump administration organized the 16-day festival on the National Mall to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. However, critics and media outlets quickly pointed out that the promotional efforts backfired by visually highlighting how empty the fairgrounds actually were during the event.

Leavitt posted a picture holding her young son in front of a giant plywood replica of Trump's proposed "Triumphal Arch.”

Rather than a bustling festival, the National Mall behind her resembled a ghost town with noticeably empty spaces.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy later interviewed Leavitt at the fairgrounds. During the broadcast, the crowd behind her remained visibly thin as she tried to hype up the upcoming July 4th fireworks.

Popular Democratic activist Harry Sisson shared Leavitt’s photo on X, writing, “Karoline Leavitt just accidentally proved how empty Trump’s state fair is. You can’t make this stuff up LMAOOO.”

“Yet she will announce the fair was packed,” wrote another.

Refusing to admit the truth, organizers have used inclement weather as the official reason to halt festivities on multiple days, including evacuating the grounds on Friday, June 26, and temporarily postponing events again on Sunday, June 28.

Critics and attendees have widely described the 16-day event as a massive "flop" and a logistical disaster.

The headlining "Freedom 250" concert on Friday night, June 26, whose lone headliner was one-hit wonder Vanilla Ice, was officially canceled less than two hours before showtime due to approaching weather.

Social media users and onlookers noted that while Friday saw actual thunderstorms, other postponements were called during periods of relatively clear or mildly overcast skies, leading to accusations that weather is being used as an excuse to mask terrible attendance.

The event has been plagued by various setbacks, including severe generator and power failures on opening days that caused the Ferris wheel to stop working.

The electrical grid failures knocked out refrigeration, melting the food vendors' ice cream into mush and cutting air conditioning inside the state exhibits.

On-the-ground visitors noted that the patriotic display screens were glitching, and the central plywood victory arch was already wrinkling at the edges from the humidity and rain.

Despite Trump claiming a crowd of 45,000 at his opening kickoff rally, photographic evidence, news broadcasts and drone footage show vast stretches of empty grass on the National Mall.

On-the-ground estimates placed the actual rally crowd closer to 1,000.

Several U.S. states outright declined to participate.

The remaining state pavilions have been heavily mocked online for resembling "hotel lobby business conferences" with no lines or visitors.

Those who did attend complained bitterly about exorbitant prices for low-quality food, such as $13 for fluffernutter sandwiches.

The fair is technically scheduled to run through July 10, but the combination of torrential rain, empty midways and infrastructure failures has dominated the news cycle as a major embarrassment.