Donald Trump is known for many things. The twice-impeached election-losing felon is known for his childish campaign tactics, for his rambling rallies, his brainless train of sycophantic followers, and his “concepts” of a plan, but he’s known best for his lies.
More than anything else, Donald J. Trump is a liar. He lied about his capabilities and goals to get elected, and then he lied about everything else in an attempt to stay in office. He lied about his successes and failures, he lied about COVID-19, he lied about the 2020 election, and he’s kept up that string of lies for so long, we no longer know what truth looks like on the unabashed grifter.
Crowd sizes have long been a favored lie among the former Fibber-in-Chief, who’s attempts to compensate for another undersized item have long been written across high rises the world around. From his very first day in office, he was falsifying reports about how many members make up his crowds, and it seems even the media is over it. They’re fact-checking the former president in real-time, these days, which really changes how those embarrassing untruths land.
Repeating the same tired lie he’s been regurgitating for a good eight years now, Trump claimed at a recent appearance that “every rally’s full,” and that he doesn’t “have any seats that are empty,” only be proven wrong seconds later. A rogue cameraperson cut from that unceasing feed of Trump’s caked-on makeup and pivoted to show the crowd, and a slew of notably empty seats instead.
As Trump continues to boast about his impressive crowd sizes and unfaltering fan support, the camera pulls back to show row upon row of empty seats, fittingly situated above a banner reading “Trump will fix it.” That’s not to say that there aren’t quite a few attendees — those nearby seats are depressingly stuffed — but the farther from Trump the camera pans, the more vacant seats are exposed.
The hero of a cameraperson doesn’t stop there. After highlighting Trump’s lies in 4K, do they return to that saggy, discolored face for a steady shot of his increasingly rebellious bronzer? They do not. They take their camera-based rebellion a step further, and focus in on a string of sign-toting Trumpers as they trickle out of the arena early, no having had their fill of Trump bluster for the day.
The cameraperson goes all-in over the two and a half minute clip, leaning into those accusations of “fake news” with an impeccable flair. Even as Trump blasts the gathered newspeople for refusing to spread his lies, the camera continues to pan over empty or mostly empty seats, with Payless Putin’s deceitful diatribe serving as aimless background noise.
The livestream cuts off as Trump wails about how “badly” the press treats him, with empty seats still serving as the visual accompaniment to his fabrications. The video landed on social media just two days ahead of the 2024 election, where viewers welcomed it with open arms. Proclaiming that “some heroes have cameras,” commenters had nothing but praise for the rogue cameraperson. They may not have a job tomorrow, if Trump catches sight of that glorious aside, but they’ll live on as a hero in the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere.