Kamala Harris Actually Does Have Bigger Rally Crowds Despite Trump Claims, Finds NYT

Despite claims made by former President Donald Trump regarding his crowd sizes, a new report from The New York Times indicates Kamala Harris has been drawing larger rally turnouts since becoming the Democratic nominee.

On Saturday, the GOP nominee claimed at Wisconsin rally that his campaign events had larger crowds than those of the Harris campaign. However, a report by The NYT analyzed campaign events held by both candidates over a three-week period in August across six states. It found that both candidates draw comparably big audiences with Harris having a slight edge on Trump.

The Times used photographs, video, and 360-degree footage to analyze the crowd sizes. Moreover, the outlet attended six rallies with Harris ultimately having slightly larger turnout than Trump in total.

On August 10th, Harris held an event in Las Vegas which brought out 6,200 supporters while Trump held a rally the day before in Montana in front 4,900 attendees. On August 17th, 5,900 turned out for Trump in Pennsylvania while 12,800 people attended Harris’ rally in Wisconsin three days later.

Finally, Trump’s largest crowd took place on August 23rd in Arizona with  11,500 supporters and 6,200 people attended Harris’ rally in Georgia the following week.

Per The Times:

The four other campaign events that The Times attended were similarly packed, with audience members generally filling up the space designated for the event. The rallies took place at venues with maximum capacities ranging from 6,800 to 19,300 people, though in some cases sections of seating were cordoned off, and additional seating or standing-only areas were added….

Experts say that crowd sizes at rallies do not have a direct relationship to winning or losing an election. For one, event organizers may strategically choose venues with a small capacity, like college campus buildings where only a few hundred can attend. The day of the week and time of day can also affect the size of the crowd and when people decide to arrive or leave.

Still, crowd sizes have been a sensitive subject for Mr. Trump throughout his political career, his fixation intensifying as of late as enthusiasm has ballooned for the new Democratic ticket. Mr. Trump falsely claimed that photographs of the crowds at Ms. Harris’s events are doctored using A.I.

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