About Those Crowd Sizes: Take A Look For Yourself

September 20, 2024 11:53 a.m.

TOPSHOT - An overall view as US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, o... TOPSHOT - An overall view as US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party's nomination for president at the DNC which runs from August 19-22 in Chicago. (Photo by Eva HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS

When Kamala Harris officially entered the presidential race late last month, she hit the ground running. The Vice President has been traveling the country, drawing large, energized crowds. Her newfound popularity, and, specifically, the size of those crowds, has predictably become a thorn in the side of Donald Trump, who sees crowd size as the ultimate measure of success.

Despite Trump’s continual fixation on that metric — he recently made the head-spinning (and wrong) claim that his speech on January 6, 2021, drew as many people as Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech at the March on Washington — its unrealistic to draw any concrete, political conclusions from crowd sizes. Still, Trump’s focus on the statistic has prompted some “whose is bigger?” debate in recent weeks, a dynamic that some Democrats have played into, trolling the former president. So let’s pull up the receipts.

In many instances, the Harris events do in fact appear to draw larger crowds, albeit, sometimes, at different venues in different cities. One Harvard assessment from earlier in August supported that impression, finding Harris’ early rallies drew a higher average crowd size than Trump’s or those of the candidate she took over from, President Joe Biden.

When we compare events featuring both candidates at the same venue, the Harris crowds still look bigger. Take, for example, the events at Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta. Harris and Trump held rallies in the same location days apart. Harris’ reportedly drew 10,000 attendees; the numbers for Trump’s rally at the venue are not known. Images show large crowds at both events, but there is a visible difference in tone and crowd density. We could also compare the events at the Milwaukee stadium where the RNC was held and where a Harris rally later took place at the same time that the DNC was also underway.

Take a look for yourself.

Harris in Atlanta on July 30 — (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris rally in Atlanta on July 30 — (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump rally in Glendale, Arizona on August 23 — (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Harris supporters in Savannah, Georgia on August 29 — (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Christine Frapech is TPM's designer and event planner based in New York.

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Notable Replies

prometheus_bic says:

August 28, 2024

Shorter Kam…“Mine’s Bigger!”
Degree says:

August 28, 2024

Honestly, they look about equal. It’s going to be a close race.
calikid says:

August 28, 2024

Looks to me like ms Harris crowds are bigger and more often.
Size matters but so does staying power
mainemomma says:

August 29, 2024

I would rather be at the joyful, diverse, fun rally vs. one that is filled with doughy white angry folks with silly red hats.

Let’s keep up the energy where it matters, and get folks to VOTE
adamc says:

August 29, 2024

Great piece. It’s nice to see a curated, honest apples to apples comparison.