Donald Trump’s obsession with audiences has now reached his opponent Kamala Harris: The former US president accuses her of making her audience bigger than it is. There is a method to his complaint.
If applause is a hard drug, then Donald Trump is the most famous junkie. Nothing keeps the former president on his toes more than an applausometer at full throttle. That was the case in the early 1990s, when he pretended to be his own press secretary, calling New York newspapers to provide them with gossip about himself. Or later on television, when he fired people as a reality “businessman” to boost ratings. The main thing is an audience, always and above all: a large audience.
“Largest audience” ever!
At the time, he couldn’t have seriously expected it, but the highlight of the attention-driven real estate heir’s life was still to come: the US presidency. He took the oath on January 20, 2017, and set new standards in terms of audience measurement when he assumed power: It was the “largest audience ever to attend an inauguration,” his spokesman said at the time. His communications director subsequently dubbed the obvious lie “alternative facts.”
Seven and a half years have passed since then, but nothing has changed in Trump’s obsession with crowds. Only the mass counts. And that also applies in every respect, as a campaign appearance by Kamala Harris in Detroit showed. The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate recently landed at the airport there on the US vice-president’s plane and was greeted by around 15,000 cheering spectators.
So many people? With Kamala Harris?
According to reports, people have been waiting for Harris for hours in the blazing sun, which could well be an indication that Trump’s opponent has unleashed something like a wave of euphoria. But wait! So many people? With Kamala Harris, the formerly dour vice president? In an airport hangar? In the middle of the week? No way!
“Did anyone notice that Kamala cheated at the airport? She inflated a huge ‘crowd’ using artificial intelligence. The same thing happens with her fake ‘crowds’ during her speeches,” Trump announced conspiratorially on his platform “Truth Social”. The former US president failed to provide any evidence for his claim. In his post he only mentions an ominous reflection on the fuselage of the government plane.
Donald Trump waves into nothingness
Harris’ campaign team responded promptly and objectively, also via social media: It was a real photo of the Harris-Walz audience in Michigan, the staff wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Her supporters, on the other hand, flooded the platform with videos of Trump appearances in half-empty halls or with half-real snippets in which Trump waves into the void.
The list of “I have the greatest” boasts could go on. At the end of August 2017, for example, US President Trump visited Corpus Christi in Texas, which had been badly hit by Hurricane Harvey. Of course he promised help, but he was even more delighted by how many people there wanted to see him and that the storm would drive up the TV ratings. He was almost certainly right. If “The Donald” has learned anything, it is that loud, constant chatter is his only currency.
Aimless monologues and confused thoughts
However, after Kamala Harris entered the presidential race, Trump has somewhat fallen out of focus. There is even a hint of the 2016 election campaign spirit blowing through the internet, when the then not-yet-president regularly embarrassed himself with his own bullshit show and was gleefully humiliated by his opponent. Trump won anyway, or precisely because of that, which is why US President Joe Biden is now urging caution: One must not make the mistake of underestimating Trump again, he said after his withdrawal as a candidate.
This can easily happen when you listen to Trump’s aimless monologues and confused thoughts during public appearances. Nevertheless, he still knows how to masterfully capture the audience’s interest with adventurous comparisons.
At a press conference called at short notice in his home state of Florida, he recently said that his audience on January 6, 2021, was larger than the crowd at Martin Luther King’s legendary “I have a dream” speech. About 250,000 people took part in his “March on Washington” on August 28, 1963. Three and a half years ago, several thousand people were there – many of them later stormed the Capitol and made this Wednesday a black day for US democracy.
“Those who cheat will cheat everywhere”
Trump’s recent post about the allegedly AI-manipulated Harris audience in Detroit also gives an indication of the direction in which he will take the election campaign: “She is cheating. That’s exactly how the Democrats want to win the election, with cheating. She (Harris, ed.) should be excluded, because false images are election manipulation. Those who do such things will cheat everywhere,” writes the former US president.
Just as he did at this point four years ago, Trump is sowing doubts. Doubts about the legitimacy of candidate Harris, doubts about the images she produces, doubts about the election itself. Each of his “concerned” objections about an allegedly “unfair” vote brings him headlines and attention. But it also brings the country closer to what he threateningly described in “Time” magazine as a “bloodbath” in the event of his election defeat.
Sources: “The Hill”, “Slate”, X.com, Kamala Harris on X, “Zeit”, Vox.com, “Washington Post”
