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
Harris rally in Atlanta on July 30
Trump in Harrisburg on July 31
Trump in Harrisburg on July 31
Trump in Atlanta on August 3
Trump in Atlanta on August 3
Harris and Walz in Philadelphia on August 6
Harris and Walz in Philadelphia on August 6
Harris in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on August 7
Harris rally in Detroit on August 7
Harris in Romulus, Michigan on August 7
People waiting to enter a Trump rally in Bozeman, Montana on August 9
Trump in Bozeman, Montana on August 9
Harris in Glendale, Arizona on August 9
Harris in Glendale, Arizona on August 9
Harris rally in Las Vegas on August 10
Harris rally in Las Vegas on August 10
Trump rally in Asheville, North Carolna on August 14
Trump supporters in Asheville, North Carolina on August 14
Trump supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on August 17
Trump supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on August 17
The crowd at the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16
Crowd for Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 20
Crowd at the DNC 2024 in Chicago on August 20
Shorter Kam…“Mine’s Bigger!”
Honestly, they look about equal. It’s going to be a close race.
Looks to me like ms Harris crowds are bigger and more often.
Size matters but so does staying power
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
Great piece. It’s nice to see a curated, honest apples to apples comparison.