Emmy Award-winning journalist Eric Flack of WUSA9, a CBS-affiliated D.C. news station, toured the Great American State Fair on the National Mall and found that the fair’s state exhibits ranged wildly in quality.
Exhibits for Connecticut and Maine, for instance, were especially empty.
“Connecticut and Maine are sharing a space and basically just put up some chairs and their state logos,” Flack said in a video he published Saturday on social media.
Some states didn’t participate in helping craft their own state exhibits at all, Flack said. North Carolina’s exhibit, for instance, had no involvement from North Carolina officials, and instead was organized by the company that built tractor trailers for Freedom 250, the organization linked to President Donald Trump that organized the fair.
“Their exhibit is a race car and some North Carolina potatoes,” Flack said, his video showing a small box of potatoes sitting on the ground.
Some states saw above-average interest among attendees, such as Arizona’s, which featured a "black light star experience" and “free cactus pens.” Most state exhibits, however, were largely informational, Flack said.
“Most of the rest of the states and territories just seemed to be using the Great American State Fair as a ‘great American visitors bureau,'” Flack said.
Critics have also noted what appears to be small crowd sizes at the fair, officially started last Thursday but stumbled weeks earlier when performers pulled out after learning of the event’s ties to Trump, who went on to tout himself as a suitable replacement.
President Trump wants all 50 states to show their pride at the Great American State Fair for #Freedom250
Here’s what we found when we visited their exhibits: pic.twitter.com/t6TvOhnrEp
— Eric Flack (@EricFlackTV) June 27, 2026