Former President Donald Trump claimed that “nobody leaves early” at his rallies, while a man behind him is seen stepping away from his seat.
During Trump’s rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Wednesday, an attendee is seen asking people to move so he could leave his seat. This is not the first time people have left the Republican nominee’s rallies, as they are often caught on film by Newsweek and other outlets. Trump and many of his supporters, however, have continuously challenged this.
“Everybody loves our rallies, we never have an empty seat,” Trump said. “They try and demean us like that horrible, horrible person that I debate where she said, ‘and people leave early.’ Nobody leaves early.”
The man, who was wearing a black shirt with the infamous Trump mugshot photo, was originally cheering on the nominee behind Trump’s podium. He was also holding a blue “Make America Great Again” sign upside down. He is seen asking two women to make room as he leaves. It is seen on multiple livestreams, including on Fox News and the Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative news outlet that covers Trump.
Former President Donald Trump giving a speech on October 30 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The Republican presidential nominee claimed that no one leaves his rallies as a man is seen stepping away behind him.
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Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign posted the clip to X, formerly Twitter.
“Trump claims ‘nobody leaves’ his rallies early as people leave early behind him,” the post reads.
Other people were seen walking away as well. It is unclear if any of them returned to their seats.
“If I saw them leave early, you know what I’d say?” Trump asked the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, make America great again and then I’d leave. But I’ve never had to do that.”
Newsweek reached out to the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment.
Trump’s team previously told Newsweek: “Nobody is leaving our rallies, whereas Kamala needs to bus in people to her events and use curtains to cover up large sections of her rallies because they are so poorly attended.”
Crowd size and how long people stay at a rally have been constant topics for Trump during the lead-up to the November 5 election, especially after Harris said people leave his events “out of exhaustion and boredom” during the presidential debate in September.
Even before Trump landed in Michigan last week, people started to leave, as the former president was running almost three hours late.
Most recently, videos from Sunday showed parts of the crowd at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York leaving early. Multiple posts on social media have made the claim. CNN journalist DJ Judd shared photos of people walking up the aisles between rows of seats at the 19,500-seat arena, which was sold out, according to Reuters.
Judd wrote: “We’re about an hour into former President Donald Trump’s much-ballyhooed Madison Square Garden remarks—but Trump took the stage about two hours late. Perhaps mindful of how late it’s getting, supporters have begun streaming for the exits, even though he’s still speaking.”
Similar to Judd’s time-conscious proposition, when Newsweek journalists have attended Trump rallies in Pennsylvania and noted attendees leaving, respondents have taken to social media to claim it was because of how late the rally was going and the need to beat traffic.
Just a day after the Madison Square Garden rally, in Georgia, “pockets” of the crowd were seen leaving on Monday. Footage posted on X by Greg Bluestein, a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, showed significant numbers of empty seats early in Trump’s speech at the 8,600-capacity venue, with an entire top tier appearing nearly empty. Bluestein later posted a longer video at roughly the “hour-mark” of Trump’s address, which showed the number of attendees in some seating sections had further thinned out.
