Donald Trump has long used the size of the crowds at his rallies as a measure of his… shall we say “political power.”
After what Vice President Kamala Harris accomplished with her presidential campaign on Tuesday night, the former president may want to reconsider that metric.
In a show of political muscle, Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz filled the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee — site of last month’s Republican National Convention — from floor to ceiling with screaming supporters. They did so while the United Center, 90 miles to the south in Chicago, was packed with Harris delegates and fans for the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
Harris mocks Trump with packed gathering at recent RNC site
Whether the Milwaukee rally was a tactically clever event targeting a key swing state or a not-so-subtle troll from Trump ‒ “We can fill your convention venue and have our convention in another city at the same time! LOL!” ‒ it definitively showed which way the momentum has swung.
Onstage in Milwaukee, Walz teased Trump: “Not only did we have tremendous energy at our convention, we got a lot more energy at the place where they had their convention, right here. … That one guy is going to be so sad tonight. So sad, so sad.”
Harris’ growing campaign energy could sap Trump’s energy
Trump seemed sad, or at least a little disappointed, as he campaigned in Michigan earlier Tuesday, telling a small crowd about how they should be afraid of crime and people entering the country illegally, even though the number of those things has plummeted.
“You can’t walk down the street to get a loaf of bread, you’re going to get shot, you’re going to get robbed, you’re going to get raped, you’re going to get whatever it is,” he said, describing a world that simply doesn’t exist. “And you’ve seen it, and I’ve seen it, and it’s time for change.”
Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania has disappeared. Vance’s solution: Just don’t believe it. No, really.
Trump’s voice was monotone, as if even he didn’t believe the fear-mongering nonsense he was spouting.
JD Vance to the rescue! Or maybe not.
In Wisconsin, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance showed up at a Kenosha deli and, according to a social media post by journalist Reese Gorman, continued his charmless onslaught by asking, “Do you have any food here that you really don’t like? We’ll take some and feed it to the journalists on the plane.”
It’s always fun to ask a restaurant if they serve food that’s dirty enough to give to journalists.
Vance continued to tread lightly, answering a question about how he prepared for a VP debate with Walz by saying, “I found a good friend from back home who brags and lies a lot, and I’ll let him replace Tim Walz.”
Hmmm. Which person associated with Vance embellishes and lies a lot? Maybe the one who just said that every bread-buying American gets shot or raped?
Both parties campaign at the DNC – this one will be exciting
Enthusiasm, overall competence, and crowd size won’t be the only things that will determine this election. The fact that both parties are actively campaigning while the Democratic National Convention is underway tells you how competitive the race will be.
Thank the president. DNC is happy with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s declining poll numbers: Joe Biden made it all possible.
But when you look at the past few weeks, and when you look at the massive fundraising by Harris’ campaign — half a billion dollars since President Joe Biden endorsed Harris last month, according to Reuters — and you look at two Midwestern basketball arenas packed with eager voters on the same night … well, I think we can safely say which way it’s going.
The difference in message between Trump’s campaign and Harris’ is clear
In Wisconsin, Harris said, “The reason we’re all here together, and spending this time together, is sincere and profound, because we love our country. We love our country. We believe in our country.”
In Michigan, Trump said: “We’re very close to World War III, and people don’t realize it. We’re closer than we’ve ever been, I think, since World War II, but this would be the war of all wars, because of guns. This is not, as I say, two army tanks driving back and forth shooting at each other. The level of power, the level of guns that are in the world today is so bad, it’s so dangerous, it’s so bad.”
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I’ll leave the final words to Walz, delivered as he bounded enthusiastically across the Milwaukee stage, preparing the audience for Harris and noting how the GOP’s optimism had faded: “They left here feeling good. … Well, believe me, a lot can change in four weeks. When you run a campaign based on fear, like they did, you’re in trouble when you run a campaign based on joy.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris fills Milwaukee arena as DNC continues in Chicago
