Just one day before the election, Donald Trump's North Carolina campaign rally appeared to have many unoccupied seats.
Former President Donald Trump visited Raleigh, North Carolina Monday morning for a campaign rally at J.S. Dorton Arena, a multi-purpose venue with a capacity of 7,610.
Some attendants remarked on social media that the event appeared to be far from full.
A recording from 10:00 a.m., the time Trump was scheduled to begin, pans around to reveal several empty seats.
It's 10 AM, when Trump is supposed to start. His Raleigh rally still is not anywhere close to full.
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) November 4, 2024
This isn't the closing energy from 2016 or 2020 (or the 2024 primaries for that matter)
His traveling press pool is here, though, so hopefully he'll start soon. https://t.co/dGzkNJEnaY pic.twitter.com/XNfdNW6ytB
People viewing the event from home also noted empty seats, which were momentarily revealed during a C-SPAN broadcast.
wow -- C-SPAN pans out and reveals there are LOTS of empty seats at Trump's rally in Raleigh pic.twitter.com/nVcmRwsAN9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 4, 2024
Correspondent Phil Lavelle shared his recording of the venue at various times, including this footage filmed outside of the arena ninety minutes before the rally began.
This is NORTH CAROLINA the morning before the election. Donald Trump is on stage in 90 mins time at this 7,600 seater stadium and there are NO huge crowds outside and people are still walking in. I have never seen this at a Trump rally in a red state. pic.twitter.com/AXYFP3n7m0
— Phil Lavelle 💪🏽/📺 (@phillavelle) November 4, 2024
When commenters on social media platform "X" challenged the validity of Lavelle's clip, he shared a screenshot of the video's time stamp from his phone, showing it was recorded at 8:39 a.m.
That's evening light. Not daytime.
— Artemis (@FibonacciLuna) November 4, 2024
I call bs unless you got a time stamp.
Go for it. pic.twitter.com/ddldBBFSGK
— Phil Lavelle 💪🏽/📺 (@phillavelle) November 4, 2024
Trump rallies have been fraught with controversy this election cycle, including assassination attempts, stranded rally-goers, unexplained eye irritation, racist comedy, and recent technical difficulties.
The campaign's North Carolina rally, which reportedly started 50 minutes late, is the first of four rallies Trump is scheduled to appear in today. Next the former president will head to Pennsylvania for rallies in Reading and Pittsburgh before ending the day in Michigan.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
