Video footage shared by a reporter of a recently held Trump rally in Michigan shows dozens of attendees seemingly leaving the speech by the former president as Donald was still talking. Apparently, they weren’t that interested in hearing a lot of the same stuff about which the ex-commander-in-chief already ranted.
Footage of folks leaving the portion of the venue where Trump was speaking was captured by Paul Egan, who is a reporter with the Detroit Free Press, a Michigan newspaper. Egan also posted a photo showing that the venue wasn’t full — far from it — shortly before Donald began his speech. It looked like hundreds more could have made their way into the venue, based off the empty space. To even his most devoted followers, is Trump’s act getting old? “This was the rear of the Macomb College Sports & Expo Center 10 mins before former President Trump began speaking,” Egan said with a photo. “There appeared to still be ample standing room. Fire marshal said capacity was 6,600.”
I didn’t have the bandwidth to tweet it from the facility, but here is video of attendees streaming out of complex in Warren MI about 20 mins into former President Trump’s speech pic.twitter.com/uGolC9A44w
— Paul Egan (@paulegan4) October 2, 2022
This was the rear of the Macomb College Sports & Expo Center 10 mins before former President Trump began speaking. There appeared to still be ample standing room. Fire marshal said capacity was 6,600 #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/L12RU66YDI
— Paul Egan (@paulegan4) October 1, 2022
Trump was in Michigan ostensibly for the purpose of promoting Republican candidates in the state, including Tudor Dixon, who is running against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer as the latter makes a bid for re-election — and who polling indicates is far behind Whitmer. The Michigan governor has faced lots of criticism, although that might phrase the issue overly mildly, over her policies to thwart the spread of COVID-19, and the state was also targeted after the last presidential election by the then-outgoing president and numerous allies of his after Biden won there. In Detroit, local Republicans on Trump’s side even started banging on the windows at a local vote-counting center in an infamous and startling incident. Amid concerns about keeping voters’ information private as a crowd assembled, those leading the tabulation effort ended up covering windows.
At his Michigan rally, Trump once again promoted his false claims of a stolen election, and according to The Independent, he praised Ginni Thomas — the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — for sticking by these false claims in a sit-down with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. “She didn’t wilt under pressure like so many others that are weak people and stupid people, because once they wilt, they end up being a witness for a long time,” Trump said. His reference to people who “wilt” becoming a “witness” obviously reveals a lot about which he’s concerned: the potential for further investigative scrutiny, driven by revelations from people once close to him. The classified documents scandal ensnaring Trump, driven by a probe of his handling of materials from his time as the president, is continuing — as are investigations at the federal and local levels into various elements of the post-election schemes to keep Trump in power despite losing.
Trump’s popularity, even among his supporters, isn’t as consistent as he might like observers to believe. His pick in the Georgia GOP governor’s primary lost by more than 50 percent earlier this year, and he’s faced lagging rally crowds before — although he’d certainly never admit as much, considering his past behavior.
