The hashtag #EmptySeatMAGATour trended on Twitter Friday as opponents of President Donald Trump poked fun at empty seats at Thursday night’s “Keep America Great” campaign rally in New Hampshire.
Manchester, New Hampshire’s SNHU Arena seats 11,770, “but so many people showed up that many had to stay outside in the overflow space,” according to Heavy.com. So many, in fact, that as is typical at Trump events, several thousand who weren’t able to get into the arena waited outside.
But none of those facts stopped Trump critics from posting pictures of a few empty seats towards the top of the arena. Over 70,000 tweets that included the #EmptySeatMAGATour hashtag had been shared as of Friday afternoon, The Hill reported, with more coming in every second.
Perfect for all those empty heads #EmptySeatMAGATour pic.twitter.com/3I1yL8wKhu
— Tara Dublin (@taradublinrocks) August 16, 2019
Trump keeps saying his rallies are full, but doesn’t look like it.
Wow, I would hate for #EmptySeatMAGATour to trend so people knew the truth.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) August 16, 2019
I love that #EmptySeatMAGATour is trending.#EmptySoulMAGATour should as well.https://t.co/44JVVFfX45
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) August 16, 2019
Nobody wants to watch re-runs of a boring, racist reality tv show anymore. #EmptySeatMAGATour
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) August 16, 2019
#EmptySeatMAGATour is funny because it’s true.@realDonaldTrump is losing his base.
The @GOP is going to go down with him. Watch how the Senate change their votes on impeachment when they realize it pic.twitter.com/8Cl75SHOJg
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 16, 2019
Yes I did. #EmptySeatMAGATour https://t.co/soDI4zvFWU
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) August 16, 2019
But those pictures might not have been telling the whole story. Heavy.com wrote, “Because too many people showed up and some had to stay in the overflow area, it’s safe to say that far more than 11,000 people showed up for the rally tonight.” The outlet also reported that some people with tickets “had to be turned away.” (RELATED: Booker Campaign Calls For Cancellation Of Trump Rally — ‘A Breeding Ground For Racism’)
Overflow outside the @realdonaldtrump rally in Manchester, NH tonight pic.twitter.com/cIzptok3a3
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) August 15, 2019
Kayleigh McEnany posted video of “thousands watching” the event from outside:
THOUSANDS watching @realDonaldTrump from OUTSIDE the Manchester, New Hampshire arena! pic.twitter.com/BINMd3AYRs
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) August 16, 2019
WMUR reported that people had been waiting in line for the event since Tuesday. All of which begs the question:
#EmptySeatMAGATour is trending among the same people who thought that the Mueller report would bring down Trump. That should be enough, honestly. But just for good measure let me throw in that I was personally at the Cincinnati rally- 20K seats FULL. 10K outside unable to get in
— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) August 16, 2019
A few empty seats in the rafters (obstructed view). Otherwise, a crowd of 12,000 and thousands still outside! @realDonaldTrump @parscale #EmptySeatMAGATour pic.twitter.com/MuW8E3aT2s
— JT Lewis (@thejtlewis) August 16, 2019
The president later shared a tweet boasting of the rally attendance:
Great news! Tonight, we broke the all-time attendance record previously held by Elton John at #SNHUArena in Manchester, New Hampshire! https://t.co/GHvFBkA2KZ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019