
Even in the heart of Trump country in Virginia, Mike Pence only drew a few hundred people to his rally.

Mike Pence traveled to the reddest district in Virginia Saturday to headline a rally for GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, where was he was greeted by a half-empty room.

Rally organizers had said they expected a turnout of about 1,200 people at the event in Washington County, VA, which Politico referred to as "one of the few politically safe regions of the state to bring a Trump administration official."

But reality did not meet expectations.


In an embarrassing turn of events, only about 400 people showed up for the rally, which was held at the Washington County fairgrounds.

Photos from the event show Pence entering the stage to face the sparse audience.

Gillespie has taken stage at the southwest Virginia rally with VP Pence. He walked in to Enter Sandman pic.twitter.com/dAClhSquLr — Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) October 14, 2017

Even high-energy music like Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" didn't excite the low-energy crowd that turned out to see Pence.

Last November, 75 percent of Washington County residents voted for the Republican presidential ticket.

But less than one year later, voters in the deep-red district weren't so excited to see Pence.

According to the Washington Post, local Republican activists spent the day working the phones in a futile effort to drum up more attendees. After the event, GOP officials blamed the small turnout on the "beautiful" weather and other activities that were going on that day, including "football, hunting and [a] wedding."

Perhaps the only thing more embarrassing than the sparse crowd at Saturday's rally is the fact that Trump wasn't even invited because he's considered too politically toxic.

And the paltry attendance adds further proof to the cratering support for this administration, even in the reddest corners of the country.