The 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) began in Chicago on Monday, with viewership immediately comparable to last month’s Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, took to social media Monday night to claim that attendance at the DNC pales in comparison to the RNC, comparing photos taken at different times of the events.
“The DNC has begun in Chicago, and the opening speakers are being met by a somber crowd,” wrote influential conservative Colin Rugg, sharing a short video on X (formerly Twitter).
NEW: The DNC has begun in Chicago and the opening speakers are being greeted by a somber crowd.
Outside the event, there are clashes between protesters and police as they try to break through the outer fence.
Thousands of protesters flocked to the city and are blamed for… pic.twitter.com/dq2jep6Mig
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) 19 August 2024
Several Trump supporters also shared images from the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) showing a sparsely attended DNC in contrast to a packed RNC.
“This photo comparison of RNC and DNC attendance says it all,” wrote @RyanHugeBrain while sharing the comparison.
However, both events were sparsely attended at the start and the RSBN comparison appears to be based on carefully selected images. Photos from the RNC also show that many seats were empty in the early morning hours.
Screenshot/Associated Press/YouTube
Some supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris mocked Trump supporters for attempting to compare the convention crowd at different times by sharing their own photos and videos.
“RNC participation”, @rippig wrote while sharing a photo from this year’s RNC at a time when there was virtually no crowd.
When Harris gave a brief surprise speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday evening, what appeared to be a very large crowd had gathered at the United Center in Chicago, which has a maximum seating capacity of 23,500 people.
Screenshot/Associated Press/YouTube
Photos also show that a large crowd gathered on the opening day of the RNC on July 15 around the same time that former President Donald Trump entered the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, which is slightly smaller at 18,000 seats.
Screenshot/Associated Press/YouTube
According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, the RNC’s upper level of seating was empty during the first two nights of this year’s event. Shortly before the convention began, an RNC official claimed that the maximum attendance per day would be over 20,000, 2,000 more than the venue’s stated seating capacity.
Although it was not clear exactly how many people attended the opening nights of each congress, the crowds at both events varied depending on the time of day.
Newsweek reached out to the DNC and RNC via email Monday evening for comment.
Trump has often boasted about the size of the crowds at events he headlined, sometimes artificially inflating the number of people who might actually have been in attendance.
Harris’s well-attended campaign rallies in recent years have apparently further exacerbated Trump’s sensibilities, with the former president making unsubstantiated claims this month that Democrats were using artificial intelligence to fake large crowds.
