Trump Claims His Rallies Are Bigger – So NY Times Actually Counted

Donald Trump loves to claim the crowds at his rallies are “yuge-er” than Vice President Kamala Harris’ rallies. So, the New York Times actually attended six campaign events (three for each candidate) over a two week period and measured actual crowd size.

gift article, NYT doing the right thing for once analyzing crowd sizes. https://t.co/4EyexsN6Q4

— Betsy Devine (@betsythedevine) September 7, 2024

The Times notes that it counted the number of people visible in footage taken just after each candidate began their speech, also accounting for people in dimly lit and obscured areas. I highly encourage you to hit the link (gift link – no paywall) to check out the very cool 360-degree photos taken to authenticate the numbers. But here’s the long and short of it: The NY Times also noted that Trump rallies had more early exits by attendees than Harris crowds:

The longer duration of a Trump event compared with a Harris one may have contributed to a greater number of early exits. Trump rallygoers typically arrived earlier in the day, and opening speeches tended to start earlier and last longer.

Of the six rallies The Times attended, Mr. Trump spoke for four times as long as Ms. Harris.