Former President Donald Trump boasted about his rally crowd sizes in Reading, Pennsylvania, claiming that they are always full. However, real-time fact-checking revealed that there were plenty of empty seats towards the back of the venue. Despite the sections closest to the stage being filled with MAGA supporters, images of the empty seats quickly spread on social media, discrediting Trump’s claim. Even an Associated Press photo showed the empty seats, contradicting Trump’s assertion that he never has them.
Observers at Trump’s rallies have noted empty seats and people departing early, often due to the repetitive and bizarre nature of his speeches. For example, his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, criticized Trump for talking about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter and falsely claiming that windmills cause cancer. She also mentioned that attendees at his rallies start leaving early due to boredom and exhaustion. This comment triggered Trump, causing him to erupt during the debate and continue addressing it.
During the Reading event, Trump bragged about having 100,000 people in attendance at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania over the weekend, a number significantly higher than the estimated attendance. Trump’s critics on social media called him out on his claim of “never” having empty seats, sharing images and videos of the vacant areas in the arena. The capacity of the Santander Arena in Reading, where Trump spoke, is between 7,200 and 8,800, making his inflated crowd numbers seem improbable.
Social media users shared their experiences at the same arena where Trump held his rally, noting that even their children’s high school graduations had more attendees than his event. They mocked Trump’s dwindling turnout at rallies, highlighting the discrepancy between his claims of massive crowd sizes and the reality of empty seats at his events. Criticism of his low-energy rallies and misleading claims about attendance spread widely on Twitter, with many users voicing their disapproval of Trump’s exaggerations.
Trump’s tendency to exaggerate his rally attendance and crowd sizes has been a recurring issue, with fact-checkers and attendees documenting empty seats and early departures from his events. Despite his insistence on always having full venues, evidence to the contrary continues to emerge, undermining his credibility and exposing the gap between his boasts and the actual turnout at his rallies. The juxtaposition of his claims of overwhelming support with the reality of empty seats paints a picture of declining enthusiasm for the former president among the American public.
