© GettyPresident Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Pittsburgh International Airport, September 22, 2020.
Broken by the Washington Post, news of the agency's pathetic prescription came hours after Secret Service Director Kimberley Cheatle resigned, following a marathon Monday grilling on Capitol Hill that saw her used as a punching bag by members of both major parties. Her agency's multi-dimensional incompetence in Pennsylvania left a former president and two spectators wounded -- and another dead.
The Secret Service's recommendation undermines a cornerstone of Trump campaign culture. Trump fans have turned his sprawling outdoor rallies into daylong parties complete with tailgate barbecues, merchants selling Trump-branded gear, and vehicles decorated in tribute to the former president. Thousands who can't get into the rally itself are content to soak up the festive atmosphere in the immediate vicinity. The rallies often provide stunning visual indicators of Trump's support, serving as campaign ads in and of themselves.
Given Trump came within an inch of a fatal head-shot thanks to the Secret Service's inadequacy -- which could take a long time to fix -- his campaign is perhaps reasonably taking the agency's recommendation to heart:
For upcoming events, Trump's team is scouting indoor venues, such as basketball arenas and other large spaces where thousands of people can fit, people familiar with the request said. The campaign is not currently planning any large outdoor events, a person close to Trump said.-- Washington Post
© Trump CampaignThe final days of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign included this enormous rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
A source tells Axios that the change doesn't necessarily mean Trump won't have any outdoor rallies at all. Meanwhile, even indoors, the Trump campaign will still be able to put on some impressive displays of strength...
...however, nixing outdoor rallies will hit the Trump campaign squarely in the checkbook, since it's much more expensive to rent a major indoor arena than an exurban fairground like the Butler Farm Show grounds. Smaller venues cost less, but give far fewer fans the opportunity to attend. According to his campaign's event schedule, Trump's next two venues are the 9,600-seat Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte tonight, and the 6,000-seat Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Saturday.
Trump has credibly accused the media of trying to avoid showing the size of his crowds. Meanwhile, we've watched with exasperation as observers gush over Kamala Harris filling a stadium high school gym in Wisconsin:
Reader Comments
WHAT A HUGH JOB!
WTF ? 🤡💩🎪
Best of the Web: Engineering a crisis: How political theater helps the Deep State stay in power
"The two 'sides' of mainstream politics are not fighting against one another, they're only fighting against you. Their only job is to keep you clapping along with the two-handed puppet show as...They are stuck on only linear thinking & usually say oh well it’s in God’s hands. That’s not how it works. Nuff said.
All it takes is saying to oneself is what if one group core was controlling the whole system on both sides.
Apparently that’s too difficult for many people to do.