Trump speaks to big rally; DeSantis friends dispute it

Former President Donald J. Trump spoke to another rally in a large sports venue in Erie, Pennsylvania last night. But friends of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), whether authorized or not, took to Platform X to dispute the crowd size. The result is an apparent duel of different crowd shots and disputed timestamps.

Trump wows the crowd

The Gateway Pundit and several X users attended the Trump rally and shared stills and video. Trump spoke at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania. Crowds started to gather at about 6:00 p.m. EDT, and Trump took the stage at 7:00 p.m. The Erie Insurance Arena seats more than 9,0000, and these embedded shots and videos showed it was full.

Among other topics, Trump addressed irregularities, and the potential for fraud, in American elections. He suggested that any Republican who failed to address those concerns should face a primary challenge.

However, several detractors insisted the crowd was less than fifty percent of capacity, with the attendees crowding toward the front. Here is an example of the exchanges:

And another:

And another:

Bill Mitchell, who advertises himself as the CEO of YourVoice Studios, frequently trolls for DeSantis and against Trump. He appears to be exhibiting pictures with doubtful or lacking timestamp provenance.

Debate qualification

In other news, the Five Thirty-eight organization reported that Trump, DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and former Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) have all qualified for the first Presidential debate. They have the minimum poll support (1 percent or better in three polls, or in two national polls and two early primary State polls) and the donors (40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 from each of 20 different States or territories). Mike Pence has the polling support but not the donors; Doug Burgum has the donors but not the polls. The other candidates in the race have neither qualification.