In what has become a clear shift in strategy, Donald Trump continues to hold rallies in heavily Democratic areas. The latest took place on June 22. On Sunday, the Biden campaign immediately responded, claiming the current president drew a larger crowd at the same venue. However, they neglected to mention that a giant barrier blocked off half the arena for the “Biden rally.” While Trump did have the upper deck cordoned off, video shows that the entire lower deck was open, suggesting that the crowds were likely very similar in size.
President Biden vs. Donald Trump speaking at the same venue in Philly π pic.twitter.com/m33CZ7E0c6
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 23, 2024
Here’s the kicker, though. The 2022 rally that the Biden campaign is bragging about on their home turf wasn’t even a Biden rally. It was attended by Barack Obama to promote the candidacy of now-Senator John Fetterman. When Biden held a rally in Philadelphia recently for his 2024 campaign, he couldn’t even fill up half a high-school gymnasium.
All you do is liepic.twitter.com/Y6b9NsV972
— ALX πΊπΈ (@alx) June 23, 2024
Crowd size comparisons are not a reliable measure of electoral success. Past election cycles have shown that you can’t judge an electorate based on a few or even ten thousand die-hards who show up to cheer on a politician. Republicans shouldn’t rest on their laurels, thinking that “big crowds” mean they have this thing in the bag. Similarly, Biden looks ridiculous and desperate trying to claim his crowds are bigger. They simply aren’t.
Let’s break down the comparison. What if Biden did draw a bigger crowd in North Philadelphia? Wouldn’t that be expected given it is an area that voted about 80% for the current president in 2020? If Trump held a rally in East Texas or rural Georgia, would it be surprising that his crowd would be bigger than a Biden rally in those places?
Of course not, which makes the comparison incredibly irrelevant and pathetic. How desperate is the Biden campaign for good news? So desperate they think a crowd comparison on their home turf is some major victory.
There’s more to the story, though. Remember how Karine Jean-Pierre accused the right of peddling “cheap fakes” by sharing unaltered, raw video footage of Biden appearing senile in public? Well, the post by the Biden campaign is the definition of a “cheap fake.”