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Just a few dozen people attended a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., on Friday, and those present 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 was held by activists who support the former president. However, just 27 people came to the rally, according to a report from The Daily Beast.
Billed as the "Stop the Tyrants & Unite for Freedom" event, organizers showed footage of Trump speeches before the first speaker took to the stage to address the crowd.
The most high-profile attendee was Steve Bannon, former chief strategist at the Trump White House, who was joined by former Trump campaign aide Matt Braynard, a frequent guest on Bannon's podcast.
The Daily Beast's Zachary Petrizzo said that two paid security personnel were among the 27 people at the D.C. event, while five liberal activists went in protest.
Event organizer John Paul Moran, who is founder of the group GOUSA, described the protesters as "paid agitators" and members of Antifa, while accusing them of trying to interrupt the event.
Some of the attendees offered their own reasons why the number of people at the rally was so low. Deborah Weiss, a right-wing speaker and lawyer, blamed the fact that the event was taking place on a sunny weekday afternoon when "a lot of people work."
Weiss added that email invitations to the event may have ended up in people's spam folders and that the emails being marked as spam could be nefarious. "They didn't go into my inbox. They disappeared entirely," Weiss said.
Another attendee blamed the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021 as a reason that certain pro-Trump events in D.C. have been poorly attended in 2022, but Moran appeared to shrug off the low turnout.
"We put the word out, literally, about a week ago. We would have liked to have more people, but I would consider it a success," Moran told The Daily Beast.
Newsweek has asked GOUSA for comment.
Former President Trump wasn't involved in Friday's event in Washington, D.C., but he will be attending a pair of rallies this weekend. He will hold a "Save America" rally in in Minden, Nevada, on Saturday, followed by another event in Mesa, Arizona, on Sunday.
Saturday marks one month until midterm elections as Republicans aim to take back the House of Representatives and the Senate. Trump has offered a slew of endorsements and held rallies in support of GOP candidates.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more