Is Donald Trump ‘Downsizing’ His Rally Venues? What We Know

A user on X has made a viral post accusing Donald Trump of downsizing his rally venues due to dwindling crowds, but is it true?
User @MikeSington, a former Hollywood executive and frequent Trump critic wrote on X Sunday: “Trump appears to be downsizing his rally venues due to dwindling crowds. Today, in Erie, Pennsylvania, his rally was in basically a conference room.” The post was accompanied by a picture showing a full room of supporters.
The post had been viewed 889,300 times by Monday morning.
The event was hosted in the Bayfront Convention Centre, which advertises a 4,000 seat theater capacity.
Right Side Broadcasting Network, a channel dedicated to livestreaming Trump rallies, posted a video on X showing a crowd of thousands lined up outside the venue.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s campaign via email for comment.
On Saturday, Trump spoke at a high school auditorium in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to a crowd of about 300 people, with a few hundred more outside who were not allowed in, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Trump was originally scheduled to attend a larger outdoor rally at an airport in Wisconsin on Saturday. The rally was moved to the Prairie du Chien venue because the Secret Service did not have the manpower to secure the venue as the United Nations [U.N.] General Assembly meeting was happening in New York, NBC News and CBS News reported.
On Friday, he spoke at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, which can seat 1,200, and on Thursday he spoke at the Moscak Group Facility in Mint Hill, North Carolina, a manufacturing facility, which WSCOTV described as an “intimate event” in front of a few hundred supporters.
On Thursday, he spoke at the Johnny Mercer Theater in the Savannah Civic Center, Georgia, with a capacity of 2,524, and on Wednesday, he spoke at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in Indiana, Pennsylvania, which has a capacity of 5,000. Local newspaper The Republican Herald reported that 5,000 attended, with an additional 7,000 outside.
Trump has held rallies at much larger venues in the past, including the 12,000-seat Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20, the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barr Pennsylvania on August 17, and the 19,000-seat Desert Diamond Arena, in Glendale, Arizona, on August 23.
Trump has long cited the size of his rallies as a proof of his popularity, and he has been called out for sometimes exaggerating attendance figures by thousands.
In July, after gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, attempted to assassinate Trump at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service asked him to hold future rallies at indoor venues over concerns of future assassination attempts.
Most of his rallies since have been at indoor venues, but some have been outdoors, with Trump behind bulletproof glass.
During the September 10 presidential debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Vice President Kamala Harris accused Trump of giving boring speeches which supporters left part way through. Trump denied this claim.
Since then, critics have routinely posted videos of Trump supporters supposedly leaving while he is still speaking; his speeches are typically longer than an hour. Other critics have posted footage showing empty seats at larger indoor venues toward the end of his rallies.
This year, four cities across the U.S. are seeking more than 700,000 from Trump’s campaign for reimbursement for rallies they helped stage between 2016 and 2019. All claim they have outstanding invoices with the campaign.
In June 2019, the Center for Public Integrity published an investigation that found 10 city authorities were seeking at least $841,219 from the Trump campaign as recompense for expenses, such as policing, they had incurred during rallies. The list includes: Tucson, Arizona; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Erie, Pennsylvania; Lebanon, Ohio; and Burlington, Vermont.
The continued requests for payments related to these past rallies come at a tough time for the Trump campaign financially, with Federal Election Commission filings showing it is being significantly outraised by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. In July, the Democrat raised $204.5 million against Trump’s $47.5 million. The vice president’s team ended the month with $219.7 million in its accounts, while the Republican nominee had $151.3 million.
This week, Trump is scheduled to speak at the 800-seat Discovery World Event Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 10,800-seat Crown Complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and on Saturday, he will return to Butler Farm in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he survived an assassination attempt in July. Butler Farm is an outdoor venue, which an estimated 20,000 people attended for the July rally.
It appears that Trump is hosting rallies at both smaller and larger venues across key swing states. His return to Butler Farm indicates that the Republican presidential candidate will hold some large scale events in the lead up to the election.