Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attempted to do crowd control at a Friday rally in Walker, Michigan.
Well, he wasn’t trying to control the crowd as much as he was trying to control any messaging about people leaving the event early.
Rally size is something that is important to Trump — so important that he became agitated during a presidential debate on September 10 when Democratic rival Kamala Harris bluntly said that “people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.”
In Walker, Trump attempted to explain why rallygoers seemed to be leaving his event.
“The people that you see leaving? Because nobody ever leaves,” the former president said. “And when they do, I finish up quick.”
Trump: The people that you see leaving right now… It looks like they’re leaving but they’re not leaving pic.twitter.com/QzbItC1Ydx
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 27, 2024
Trump then suggested that his staffers were to blame for the apparent departures, and claimed that people were actually lining up in the back for photos since he couldn’t pose for pictures earlier.
“These stupid people that are with me sometimes, they say, ‘Come on back,’” Trump said. “Thirty people, they get up and they go back. And they’re all lined up in the back waiting for me to take a picture because I couldn’t do it before.”
But Trump’s explanation for people leaving his rally wasn’t helped by the Harris campaign sharing purported video of (checks notes) people leaving his rally.
(They are leaving, @realdonaldtrump) https://t.co/h0dzVsIVOFpic.twitter.com/Gaoo2yankU
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 27, 2024
Not surprisingly, social media users soon mocked the former president for his questionable claim.
Narrator: Once again, Donald Trump was lying. It looked like they were leaving because they were, in fact, leaving.
— Rebekah, Crone for Kamala 🪷 🇺🇸 (@RebekahWriter) September 27, 2024
It's just the concept of leaving… 🤣🤣🤣
— Brent Jacobs (@BAJPortland) September 27, 2024
"They're all just going to the bathroom at the same time"
— Bill DeMayo (@BDeMayo) September 27, 2024
And they get lost on the way back. Too bad! They miss the exciting ending where he reveals whether he’d rather be electrocuted or eaten by a shark. Again.
— barbara l reinstein (@netbarb987) September 27, 2024
Trump…
‘Don’t believe your own eyes or ears, just believe me.’— Phillip-USA (@phillip_USA_) September 27, 2024
How fucking pathetic. pic.twitter.com/3W5o47Q9Qd
— shelby (@thetrueshelby) September 27, 2024