Viral video shows differences in Trump and Biden rallies held in same town last week

A now-viral video posted to Twitter this week compared two rallies held in the same Pennsylvania town last week by former president Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.

In a video posted by Benny Johnson, a reporter from conservative news outlet Newsmax, video clips of the Trump and Biden rallies are shown back to back. Johnson captioned the video, “Donald Trump and Joe Biden Both held rallies in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania this week. Here is what they looked like back to back. Incredible.”

Johnson’s video plainly shows a much larger crowd filling a large event space at Trump’s rally, while the much shorter clip of the Biden event, which was held in a smaller space with a much more intimate crowd. The Trump rally was held at the 8,000 seat Mohegan Sun Arena, while Biden’s rally took place at a small local college, Wilkes University. There are only about 2,500 students at the school, according to academic rating site Niche.com.

President Biden’s speech discussed the threat of so-called MAGA Republicans to American democracy. Biden specifically called out Republicans who are simultaneously pro-law enforcement and also sympathize with January 6 attackers.

“Look, you’re either on the side of a mob or the side of the police,” Biden said. “You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection. You can’t be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on January 6th ‘patriots’. You can’t do it.”

In contrast, Trump’s rally, which was intended to be a rally for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania races, focused mainly on the former president’s ire over the FBI’s recent search of his residence at Mar-a-Lago, and claimed the Biden White House “weaponized” the FBI against him.

“The FBI and the justice department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical-left scoundrels, lawyers and the media, who tell them what to do,” Trump said.

Trump’s supporters have often lauded Trump for drawing such large crowds, often implying that the large crowds – in comparison to Biden’s much smaller crowds – is evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.