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Crowd sizes are kind of a thing when it comes to former President Donald Trump. He often boasts about how many people come to see him at his rallies, and he is often wrong. On Oct. 12, he claimed that 100,000 people came to see him in the Coachella Valley in California. Unsurprisingly, his conspiracy theorist travel companion Laura Loomer echoed that number. Was it correct? Take a wild guess.
The rally was held at the Calhoun Ranch, on the outer edges of Coachella and Indio. He took the stage around 5:30 pmlocal time and, as always, entered to the tune of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
It was hot at the rally – in the mid-90s, and Trump joked with the crowd about whether he should wear his MAGA hat or show off his hair. After the rally, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and said “100,000 plus in Coachella. What a night. Thank you.”
That’s a lot of people. In fact, only a few stadiums in the world can even hold that many people. One of them is called the Narendra Modi Stadium, and it’s in India. There’s also one in North Korea. In America, the biggest stadium is Michigan Stadium, which holds about 107,000. You get the picture. That’s a whole lot of people. Trump did not speak at a stadium.
Trump’s “traveling buddy” Loomer quickly picked up on his Truth Social Post, and added a little barb at his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. “Kamala could never,” she said, parroting claims about the high number. So how many people actually showed up? A lot less.
According to the Riverside County Fire Marshall, the event had an estimated 15,000 people in attendance. That’s not even close to 100,000. Even 50,000 would be an understandable leap, but 15,000? That’s a discrepancy of 85,000 people.
Loomer is no stranger to controversy either. She’s made many inflammatory statements, including that “the White House will smell like curry” if Harris wins the election. She claims that the September 11 attacks were an inside job, but she still went to Ground Zero with Trump on the recent anniversary of the attacks.
Trump has defended Loomer and her conspiracy theories, calling her a “supporter” and “free spirit” who has “strong opinions.”
“I don’t control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants,” Trump said. The Coachella controversy involved the crowd in a different way as well. Thousands of his supporters were stranded on Saturday night following the rally. Many of the rally goers were bussed in, but when it came time to leave they found out there were fewer busses to take them back.
One attendee posted a video that showed the chaos that ensued. In the video, he says there used to be “like 20 buses when we were being brought here, but now there’s only like three buses operating.” What a fun way to spend the day.