Pro-Trump rally sees only dozens in attendance as excuses pile up

Just a few dozen people attended a pro-Trump rally in Washington, DC on Friday, and those in attendance blamed the low turnout on a number of factors, from “agitators” to the sunny weather.

The event was not organized or attended by Donald Trump, but by activists supporting the former president. However, only 27 people attended the rally, according to a report by The daily beast.

Under the motto “Stop the Tyrants & Unite for Freedom,” organizers showed footage of Trump’s speeches before the first speaker took the stage to address the crowd.

The most prominent attendee was Steve Bannon, former chief strategist at Trump’s White House, who was joined by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign aide and a frequent guest on Bannon’s podcast.

The daily beast‘s Zachary Petrizzo said two paid security guards were among 27 people at the DC event, while five Liberal activists protested.

Event organizer John Paul Moran, the founder of the group GOUSA, described the protesters as “paid agitators” and members of Antifa, and accused them of trying to disrupt the event.

Some of the participants offered their own reasons why the number of people at the rally was so small. Deborah Weiss, a right-wing speaker and lawyer, blamed the fact that the event took place on a sunny weekday afternoon when “a lot of people are working”.

Weiss added that email invitations to the event may have ended up in people’s spam folders and that the emails marked as spam could be malicious. “They didn’t go to my inbox. They completely disappeared,” Weiss said.

Another participant blamed the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot as a reason certain pro-Trump DC events were poorly attended in 2022, but Moran appeared to ignore the low turnout.

“We literally released the word about a week ago. We would have liked to have had more people but I would consider it a success,” Moran said The daily beast.

news week has reached out to GOUSA for comment.

Former President Trump was not involved in Friday’s event in Washington, DC, but he will attend two rallies this weekend. He will host a “Save America” ​​rally in Minden, Nevada, on Saturday, followed by another event in Mesa, Arizona, on Sunday.

Saturday marks a month until the midterm elections as Republicans aim to retake the House and Senate. Trump has offered a number of endorsements and held rallies in support of GOP candidates.