The Empty Seats At Trump's Latest Rally Are Sure To Send Him Into A Tailspin

Donald Trump tends to draw crowds of energetic followers at all of his rallies and, from the outside looking in, it often appears like there's a massive surge of support behind the former president. Apparently, though, people often end up leaving the rallies early. "Trump often runs late and goes long, prompting many to bow out because of other responsibilities, priorities or, sometimes, waning patience and interest," as reported by The Washington Post. So despite Trump's beliefs otherwise, many people just simply end up leaving before Trump is done speaking. Whether that is because he tends to speak longer than expected or because of the content of his speeches is likely a determining factor on an individual basis and not something that we can draw concrete conclusions about.

Unfortunately for Trump, now photos seem to reveal his rallies aren't as successful as many believe, at least when it comes to his rally in Reading, Pennsylvania. Kamala HQ shared photos on X, formerly known as Twitter, and pointed out that there were a lot of empty seats. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank said in a tweet that the arena the rally was set in holds 7,200 people and the accompanying picture is evidence that there are nowhere near that many people in attendance. 

Lot of empty seats at Trump rally in Reading, Pa. Arena has 7,200 seats. pic.twitter.com/4KkaoLnZ9E

— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) October 9, 2024

Meidas Touch threw their hat in the ring as well with a video from the rally. The seats appear to be much fuller in this angle, but it is directly behind the former president where cameras recording the rally are pointed. It also shows several people leaving the arena while Trump is speaking, something he claimed doesn't happen at his rallies.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris may have gotten one thing unintentionally right in her September 2024 debate with Donald Trump. While she pointed out low attendance at his rallies as a way to attempt to rattle the former president, there seems to now be evidence to back up her remarks. She surprisingly invited voters to attend one of his rallies, saying attendees often left out of "exhaustion and boredom" (via ABC News). She also pointed out that his rally topics are often nonsensical, quoting a comment that "windmills cause cancer" and bringing up the way Trump tends to bring fictional characters into his speeches.

Harris's needling at the debate appeared to get him off his game as well, forcing him to spin the next couple of answers he gave into defending his rallies and denying her claims about how successful they actually were. It became painfully obvious to viewers how much Trump's apparently dwindling crowd sizes bother him. Trump responded to her claims by stating that "she said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there. And then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that" (via ABC News). He added, "We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. That's because people want to take their country back."

Trump has rejected offers from both CNN and Fox for another debate against the vice president and it appears the two won't debate again thanks to her effective tactics in their first (and likely only) time on stage together.