The Daily Populous Saturday October 26th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Rlynn11

Vice President Kamala Harris has reportedly smashed her own rally crowd size record for the second time in just 24 hours.

Harris headlined a jam-packed event, attended by around 23,000 people in Clarkston, Georgia, on Thursday night, beating out her campaign's previous attendance record of about 17,000 in Greensboro, North Carolina, last month.

The vice president's record was broken again on Friday night at a star-studded rally at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. Celebrities in attendance included megastar Beyoncé, whose song "Freedom" has been heavily used by the Harris campaign.

The Harris team said around 30,000 supporters filled the Texas rally, according to multiple reports. Over 1.5 million reportedly registered to attend the rally. The venue has a seating capacity of just over 22,000, although it typically hosts outdoor sporting events and many Harris supporters were standing on the field Friday.

Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung argued in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that the event was really "a Beyonce concert," suggesting that any media coverage of the large crowd would amount to an attempt to "gaslight" those who believe Harris "could never" draw a large crowd.

Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured greeting Beyoncé as Kelly Rowland looks on during a presidential campaign rally in Houston on October 25. Over 30,000 people attended the event, breaking Harris' campaign attendance record for... Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured greeting Beyoncé as Kelly Rowland looks on during a presidential campaign rally in Houston on October 25. Over 30,000 people attended the event, breaking Harris' campaign attendance record for the second time in 24 hours. More Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Harris campaign via email on Friday night.

Despite preemptive assertions from the Trump campaign, Beyoncé did not perform at the Harris rally on Friday. Instead, the singer delivered a short speech to make the case for Harris before introducing the vice president.

"I'm not here as a celebrity," Beyoncé said. "I'm not here as a politician, I'm here as a mother. A mother who cares deeply about the world our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies [and] a world where we are not divided."

Shortly after Harris arrived on stage, a group of Trump supporters attempted to disrupt the event by heckling the Democratic candidate, prompting her to mock their effort and suggest that they were at the wrong rally.

"You know what? Just send them to that small rally down the street, it'll be fine," said Harris. "Some people don't have a great sense of direction. But that's OK, we'll show them the way."

Trump, who frequently touts his rally crowd sizes and has claimed without evidence that Harris uses artificial intelligence to boost her crowd numbers, was also in Texas on Friday. He reportedly spoke to a far more modest crowd of around 100 supporters in Austin before recording a podcast interview with Joe Rogan.

Due to the podcast recording, the former president's arrival for a rally at a small airport in Traverse City, Michigan, was significantly delayed on Friday night, causing some Trump supporters to leave the event before he took the stage.

While sharing a video to X, formerly Twitter, NBC News reporter Megan Lebowitz wrote that a "steady stream of people" left Trump's rally by around 45 minutes after he was originally scheduled to speak.

Update 10/25/24, 11:45 p.m.: This article was updated with further information and context.

MrsSophiaXo on October 26th, 2024 at 03:24 UTC »

Vice President Kamala Harris held her best-attended political rally ever alongside former President Barack Obama in Georgia on Thursday.

Around 20,000 people attended a packed rally for the vice president at James R. Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, according to a Reuter's report citing the Harris campaign. The second largest political rally for Harris was attended by approximately 17,000 supporters in Greensboro, North Carolina, early last month. (...)

In addition to Obama, Bruce Springsteen was featured at the rally and performed briefly before the former president and the vice president took the stage. Clarkston is located in DeKalb County, which is one of the most Democratic-leaning counties in Georgia, with over 83 percent of voters having backed President Joe Biden in 2020.

wwhsd on October 26th, 2024 at 02:51 UTC »

I hope that when Trump is out of politics we can stop hearing about rally crowd sizes.

CaptainNoBoat on October 26th, 2024 at 02:37 UTC »

Meanwhile:

> Minutes before Trump’s Michigan rally was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, his spokesman posted on the social media platform X that Trump was just leaving Texas, more than two hours away by air. Trump recorded a video from his plane urging his supporters to stay, noting it was Friday night and promising, “We’re going to have a good time tonight.”

> Trump was slated to speak at the Traverse City airport, where temperatures dipped into the low 50s Fahrenheit (above 10 degrees Celsius) after dark.