Too funny! Attendance at Donald Trump rallies plummets as his message goes further off the rails [View all]
Donald Trump seemed to be attracting oversized crowds of conservatives to his campaign rallies during the republican party primary race precisely because his message was so overtly bigoted and racist. But whether because the enthusiasm of the primary season has waned of its own accord, or because Trump has finally taken things too far for even the more ardent of conservatives, attendance at his events has plummeted this past week to the point that he’s now speaking to largely empty venues in some cities.
The first sign of trouble began during a Trump rally in Richmond, Virginia. The venue had a capacity of around twelve thousand, but reporters on site estimated the crowd as being somewhere between two and three thousand people. Some observers wrote it off as a fluke or an overestimation of local popularity on the part of the advance team who chose the venue. However the troublingly low attendance has subsequently continued elsewhere.
Donald Trump held another rally today in Tampa, and those in attendance reported on Twitter that attendance was also significantly below capacity and expectations. That marks the second time this week that Trump’s turnout has proven to be short of what had been expected, and points to a potential pattern which will need to be observed going forward.
Trump’s insistence on doubling down on his racist comments about the judge in the Trump University case has been sharply rebuked by all sides, including a number of republican leaders who are now trying to distance themselves from his campaign. It’s not clear if this seeming last straw is serving to dampen attendance at his events, as his sharpening racism helps to narrow the number of people who find that they can identify with his remarks. It’s a pattern that’s worth continuing to watch in the coming days and weeks.
http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/politics/attendance-at-donald-trump-rallies-plummets-as-his-message-goes-further-off-the-rails/24962/
= new reply since forum marked as read
