Fewer than 25 minutes into Donald Trump\u2019s remarks, Melissa Prescott walked out.<\/p>\n
She arrived at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall at 8:30 a.m. on a hot September day, waited in line outside with her teen daughter for more than four hours, then waited another hour inside before Trump took the stage about 2:15 p.m. As Trump was complaining about 2016 exit polls and speaking about how he likes \u201cthe old people the best,\u201d Prescott, along with dozens of others, started trickling out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad we got in. I wish I could stay to hear more,\u201d said Prescott, 36, who explained that she needed to go pick up her disabled cousin.<\/p>\n
The Republican presidential nominee consistently draws large, enthusiastic and rowdy crowds to his rallies and other campaign events, and at nearly all of them, another trend is clear: Scores of people leave early.<\/p>\n
Most stay. But Trump often runs late and goes long, prompting many to bow out because of other responsibilities, priorities or, sometimes, waning patience and interest, according to Washington Post interviews and observations across dozens of events. Some said they wanted to beat traffic or had work the next day. Others complained about sound quality. One man wanted to go home to his French bulldog. Another needed to get home to his daughter. A third had a Yorkie with him that started acting out. A fourth man said his phone died.<\/p>\n
The early rally departures have touched a nerve in Trump, who has long shown intense interest in attendance, ratings and other optics. He has mentioned the subject in a defensive tone lately after Vice President Kamala Harris needled him over it and suggested people leave out of \u201cexhaustion and boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly nobody\u201d leaves the rallies, Trump said at a recent town hall in Flint, Mich. At an event in Walker, Mich., Trump insisted \u201cnobody ever leaves,\u201d before adding, \u201cand when they do, I finish up quick, believe me.\u201d Trump then suggested that it looks like people are leaving their seats because they want to come up and take photos with him.<\/p>\n
The departures and Trump\u2019s reaction have received attention on late-night television shows. \u201cWhere the h\u2014 is everyone going? Where are you going? I see you trying to leave, but the doors are locked,\u201d asked James Austin Johnson, playing Trump in a recent \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d sketch. Meanwhile, Harris\u2019s campaign has continued to taunt Trump on social media, posting video of people leaving his events.<\/p>\n
A representative for Trump\u2019s campaign pointed to the large audiences he attracts at many of his rallies. \u201cThe fake news media never wants to report the truth about President Trump\u2019s rallies: they are the biggest political events in history,\u201d Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. \u201cEverywhere President Trump goes, thousands of supporters show up to see him, waiting in line for hours to hear him deliver his uplifting message to make America strong, safe, and wealthy again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump repeatedly has resisted entreaties from advisers and allies to cut down on his speeches. \u201cThey want a show. They want two hours,\u201d Trump said this year to an ally who suggested shorter speeches. Like others, the ally spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.<\/p>\n
The former president has told advisers that after people stand for so long and wait for so long, he needs to give them something more than a \u201cboring policy speech,\u201d one person who has spoken to him said. The speechwriters craft remarks that are usually designed to go for 60 to 90 minutes, a campaign adviser said, but they know Trump will veer repeatedly off the script.<\/p>\n
In Atlanta, over the summer, crowds gathered for several blocks in the sweltering heat down a busy highway, waiting to get inside a Trump rally. But as he kept talking, slashing into Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and going off script, hundreds if not thousands of people left the arena.<\/p>\n
More recently, in Indiana, Pa., attendees trickled out as Trump falsely claimed that \u201cevery legal expert\u201d wanted abortion policy sent back to the states, over an hour into his speech. More left as he repeated his warning about \u201cWorld War III.\u201d<\/p>\n
By 9:20 p.m., about 90 minutes after he began, the empty seats were noticeable at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, while Trump called the nation\u2019s capital a \u201chorror show.\u201d He wrapped up his speech about five minutes later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want Trump!\u201d his crowds have chanted at several rallies, after waiting for four or five hours.<\/p>\n
In Las Vegas, some attendees grew frustrated with Trump\u2019s tardiness and said they had trouble hearing him. A reporter standing by the door counted more than 200 people leaving in the first 20 minutes. One attendee said they still loved Trump but said the former president would have said \u201cYou\u2019re fired\u201d if anyone else had been as late as he was.<\/p>\n
Anastasia Bennett, 22, quickly grew tired of the insults and was ready to leave. Bennett was undecided before attending the rally with her aunt, who supports Harris. But after hearing Trump speak, she said she planned to vote for Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the insults and just being an hour late,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In Tucson, some attendees began filing out around the time Prescott left. Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake was among the first to exit. She waved at supporters outside who had been unable to get into the event but had remained there in hopes of being let in late or catching a glimpse of Trump exiting afterward.<\/p>\n
As Carlos Chaboya, 65, left to walk to his car a few blocks away, a man in his truck stopped to ask him if Trump was still speaking onstage. Another man on foot asked him if people could still get into the rally.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still going. I gotta go home, but he\u2019s still on,\u201d Chaboya said, warning the man that they weren\u2019t letting anyone else in.<\/p>\n
Chaboya said he arrived about 8:30 a.m. and, like Prescott, was among the last to be let into the venue. He said he was leaving because his daughter, who is home-schooled, called him and said the internet wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta get it back up for her, so I\u2019m gonna go do that,\u201d said Chaboya, who is retired.<\/p>\n
Prescott said she was excited to see Trump, even if briefly, after driving for two hours in August to Glendale and waiting more than two more hours in line, only to be turned away because the rally was at capacity.<\/p>\n
When she entered the Tucson event, Prescott was frustrated to learn that the concession stands were already closed, and she and her daughter were unable to get food.<\/p>\n
LeVine reported from Uniondale, N.Y., and Indiana, Pa. Rodriguez reported from Tucson. Dawsey reported from Atlanta. Cheeseman reported from Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fewer than 25 minutes into Donald Trump\u2019s remarks, Melissa Prescott walked out. She arrived at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall at 8:30 a.m. on a hot September day, waited in line outside with her teen daughter for more than four hours, then waited another hour inside before Trump took the stage about 2:15 p.m. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}