Donald Trump, as could be expected, has recently trumpeted his demands for supporters of his to protest on his behalf over his potentially looming indictment amid a criminal investigation in New York City into hush money illegally provided to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
His rhetoric, employing unsurprisingly apocalyptic language, has reminded observers of what led up to what became the deadly Capitol riot, when thousands of his supporters participated in a march on the Capitol, with what is now about a thousand criminally charged. This time around? Hardly anybody supporting the ex-president seems that motivated to show up to demonstrate on Donald’s behalf, no matter how many all-caps messages he puts up on his knock-off social media site Truth Social. A brief clip posted online by a photojournalist named Rebecca Brannon showing the scene outside Trump Tower in New York City early Monday depicted barely half a dozen supporters of the ex-president, although you can see more pro-Trump flags waving in the reflection of the building… but the crowd doesn’t look that much bigger.
Predictably, messages these folks were sharing centered in part on the idea Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. Monday was the day before the day when Trump claimed he got the impression he could be facing a criminal case, but there was no particularly substantial crowd for him. There was a demonstration that was organized and scheduled for that same day by a long-operating GOP organization called the New York Young Republican Club… and not that many people showed up to that gathering, either. “I’m at the pro-Trump protest put on by the NY Young Republicans Club,” journalist Ben Collins shared on Monday evening. “Not a joke, there are more reporters here than Trump supporters. This was supposed to be the big one.” He included an image showing what seemed like a thicket of reporters, many of whom were no doubt already gathering in New York City for the possibility of a Trump indictment.
Although there have been some questions about the accuracy of the metrics, a tabulation on Collins’s initial tweet of the views reached six million. Collins also shared other images revealing that there really were what seemed like way more journalists than pro-Trump demonstrators — and he also noted how, unsurprisingly, Trump shared a clip from the rally that it appeared was, at least in part, really zoomed into the speakers, which avoided all the empty space showing the paltry turnout. Even Fox News, which obviously remains rather committed to the conservative cause, reported this week on how demonstrators against Trump were generally outnumbering his supporters around New York City locales. Fox spotlighted protests taking place outside an office for local District Attorney Alvin Bragg, where dueling demonstrations were unfolding.
Happening now: More Trump supporters arriving outside Trump Tower in NYC. pic.twitter.com/MrkKmcDLrN
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) March 20, 2023
I’m at the pro-Trump protest put on by the NY Young Republicans Club. Not a joke, there are more reporters here than Trump supporters.
This was supposed to be the big one. pic.twitter.com/NhXyiKoDAC
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) March 20, 2023
