President Donald Trump just made a visibly improbable claim about how many people attended and watched online during his keynote address at a GOP event in Texas.
“The Republican Midterm Convention last night, in Dallas, was a major, sold out hit, far bigger, better, and more important than anyone thought possible,” the president, 80, posted on Truth Social on Thursday.
He went on to say that streaming had brought in “really big numbers,” that “the overall numbers beat the NFL,” and that the American Airlines Center venue “beat its own attendance records.”
Trump added that screens had to be put up outside because there were “thousands of people” who “couldn’t get in” to watch his speech.
The Daily Beast contacted the White House to ask what numbers the president used as the basis for his post.
His claims that the event sold out ahead of time are hard to square with organizers texting offers of “FREE TICKETS” with links to the conference page in the final hours before the event began on Wednesday.
Screenshots circulating on social media of convention livestreams taken during the president’s speech also suggest online viewership hovered between the hundreds and low thousands for RightSide Broadcasting Network, ABC News, Fox News, and The Hill.
For overall numbers to “beat” Wednesday’s showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Trump’s speech would have to have bested attendance, TV, and streaming figures from the game. These have not, at the time of writing, been released.
The American Airlines Center in Dallas has a capacity of roughly 20,000 people. Daily Beast reporters present for the event noted that large portions of the venue’s upper seats remained empty, and there was no immediate sign of a crowd of thousands waiting outdoors.
“I guess people LOVE TRUMP POLITICS!” Trump signed off his Thursday Truth post about attendance at the event. “I’ll be there again tonight to close out the show.”
Republican lawmakers hoped the convention, billed by the president’s allies as a “Trump-a-palooza,” would help shore up voter support ahead of midterm elections in which Democrats currently hold an almost 8-point lead.
Trump, whose approval ratings have sunk to historic lows, urged the crowds on Wednesday to “pretend that I’m on the ballot” as they head to the polls in November.
