In a heated exchange on social media, former President Donald Trump lashed out after a video surfaced showing empty seats at his rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The video, posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign account @KamalaHQ, claimed that Trump’s audience left the room as he “rambled incoherently,” leaving the room partially empty.
The video shows people leaving a section of the auditorium next to Trump’s rally, where many seats are empty. The section appears to be behind the stage. Trump can be heard speaking quietly in the background.
The video was captioned: “Trump’s audience walks out as he rambles incoherently in Pennsylvania, leaving more seats empty.” It had been viewed 4.8 million times as of Sunday.
AP/Newsweek
Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, on Sunday afternoon to deny the authenticity of the video.
He claimed the footage was taken before the rally began and that the venue was actually packed, with thousands of supporters turned away due to space constraints.
Trump accused Harris of spreading false information, calling her a “corrupt radical left politician” and linking her to a broader conspiracy to impeach President Joe Biden that he said involved other prominent Democrats.
“We had to turn away a lot of people yesterday in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote. “Comrade Kamala Harris’ social media operation showed empty seats, well before the rally started in the early afternoon, when in reality we had to turn away 11,500 people!”
The exchanges didn’t stop there. On Sunday night, Harris’ campaign account responded by claiming that the video was recorded while Trump was speaking.
“Americans are sick of your lies and your insult-filled illusions,” the account reads. “It’s starting to get tiresome.”
This is a developing story.
