Republicans downplayed Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s appeal after she drew a crowd of 12,000 supporters last week in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Some Democrats compared the number of Warren’s attendees to Trump rallies, but Trump criticized the media coverage of her crowd size and claimed his crowds are “far bigger.”
“They do stories so big on Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren’s crowd sizes, adding many more people than are actually there, and yet my crowds, which are far bigger, get no coverage at all. Fake News!” the president tweeted.
They do stories so big on Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren’s crowd sizes, adding many more people than are actually there, and yet my crowds, which are far bigger, get no coverage at all. Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2019
Warren reportedly also drew 15,000 attendees at a rally in Seattle, but Republicans say Trump draws bigger crowds with newer voters.
“Well, a respectable-sized crowd, for sure, but that would be on the small side if you compare it to one of President Trump’s rallies, certainly. But I just think having one or two good crowds does not compare if you look at what candidate Trump was doing this time in 2015. There’s no one on the Left who’s doing that,” Republican National Committee Deputy Communications Director Cassie Smedile told the Washington Examiner on SiriusXM’s Wilkow Majority.
She added, “And I would point out, as well, something that has definitely not happened on the Left: Donald Trump, if you go to his rally, on average, half of the attendees are registered Democrats. That’s not happening on the Left. They’re not bringing anybody new into their fold. In fact, they are just going for the far-left part of their base.”
The Trump campaign has staffed up heavily in Minnesota, hoping to end the Democratic winning streak in the North Star State this election cycle. Although the Trump campaign put a heavy effort in Minnesota in 2016, he lost to Clinton by a 1.5% margin.
Since 1972, Minnesotans have chosen the Democratic nominee. Republicans have not won the state in the general since Nixon’s 1972 landslide win against George McGovern. Minnesota was the home state of Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale and was the only state he won in 1984, as well as the District of Columbia.
“One thing a lot of people love about the president is he says even that in the places we came close we’re still looking to expand the map. We’re not just defending it. We want to expand it,” Smedile explained, claiming that Minnesota voters may be influenced by the effectiveness of the Republican leadership in Wisconsin next door.
“President Trump sees opportunity in these states that are currently being led by Democrats and people have been really disgruntled and disenfranchised and wish that their states were getting more of the successes that they see in some of these other states that President Trump won,” Smedile said.
