Shining a spotlight on Donald Trump’s slipping standing among voters is a reliable way to rattle the ego-driven former president.
The 80-year-old Trump has long nurtured a fixation on media voices that highlight how his once-mighty following appears to be shrinking with every passing week.
For years, the New York City native has measured his influence by how many people show up to hear him speak, using campaign rallies as a gauge of his grip on the American public.
The former reality television star frequently boasts about his massive crowds, even as the numbers and the visuals contradict his account.
Trump has spent several days crisscrossing the country to drum up support for Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections. On Oct. 12, he traveled to Youngstown, Ohio.
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The crowd of MAGA supporters did not fill the Covelli Center. Reports estimated that only 2,500 to 3,000 people attended the rally.
This marked Trump’s third appearance at the multipurpose arena, which holds about 7,000 spectators.
According to The Vindicator, a Youngstown-based newspaper, his 2017 rally drew a near-capacity crowd, while attendance at his 2022 event fell to about 5,500.
Photos taken at Monday’s rally showed empty sections as Trump walked on stage. With Ohio being a hotly contested swing state, the visual of unoccupied chairs set off political alarm bells.
CNN host Kaitlan Collins, a frequent target of the president’s criticism, appeared to enrage the White House by highlighting the empty seats at Trump’s Ohio rally.
She addressed the sparse crowd during the Oct. 12 episode of her show, “The Source,” according to The Daily Beast.
“There were roughly… 400 seats there in that arena. There were some empty seats, as you can see,” Collins said to the program’s panel of political analysts.
Collins added, “There isn’t a question of that’s an indication of whether or not there’s less momentum or fervor for the president, hard to know, but he is the one that’s saying there’s these big overflow rooms.”
The “Source” segment cast Trump as the butt of the joke, and his social media team clearly wasn’t laughing. After Trump’s social media team learned of Collins’ remarks, the White House hit back with a fiery response.
“The only one humiliated here is @kaitlancollins,” read a tweet from his Rapid Response team’s account on X. “These ‘vacant seats’ had an obstructed view due to the gigantic press risers directly in front of them. Just more Fake News bulls—t.”
What was meant to be a vicious clapback from Team Trump became an opening for the president’s critics to taunt him further over his dwindling crowds.
One X user noted, “There are multiple camera angles. There were SO MANY EMPTY SEATS. A second person wondered, “Will they ever stop lying to the American People?”
The mockery continued when another commenter jokingly posted, “Fake news bulls—t? Someone is getting spicy the closer it gets to losing their job.”
“These are not obstructed view seats. Empty. Stop lying,” demanded one individual, who also provided pictures of several vacant rows of seats inside the Covelli Center.
“Nothing triggers Trump more than crowd sizes,” one X user pointed out, prompting another to reply, “And his hand size.”
For Trump, size certainly seems important. One day before the Ohio rally, the self-centered businessman shared a diatribe on Truth Social about his supposed impact on this year’s midterm election.
“My rallies, legendary they have already become, have made a tremendous difference with the enthusiasm of the Republican Party,” Trump claimed. “They have been waiting for them to happen, even though I never thought I’d have to be doing rallies again.”
The GOP standard-bearer also touted the event ahead of time, stating, “Next stop, tomorrow, Youngstown, Ohio, for our great Senator Jon Husted, and my friend, Vivek Ramaswamy for governor, where the crowds are already waiting in line.”
As the calendar inches closer to Election Day on Nov. 3, Trump is expected to fly to Georgia, Kansas, and North Carolina for more rallies in the coming days.
By directly linking his name to embattled Republican candidates, he puts all eyes on each location to see whether the once-mighty MAGA pied piper still has the clout to turn out his base in big numbers.
There are entirely empty sections in the arena where Trump is currently hosting a rally in Youngstown, Ohio.
Both parties see this area as key to winning the races for Senate and governor.
These photos were taken as Trump walked on stage. https://t.co/T9J6tipawv
— Emily Davies (@ELaserDavies) October 12, 2026
