What a difference eight years makes, especially at his age. Donald Trump is holding way fewer rallies than he did during his previous presidential runs, in part because he’s older and enjoys staying in at Mar-a-Lago, Axios reports.
The former president did 72 rallies in the summer leading up to the 2016 election, barn-burning events that demonstrated Americans’ enthusiasm about his bid. This summer, he did 24, just over a third as many.
According to people on Trump’s team, besides his inclination to remain at his resort, voters already know who the former president is, so there’s less need for him to introduce himself to live audiences. Rallies are also costly, and his campaign is trying to budget carefully as his fundraising lags behind that of Kamala Harris.
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The rally tally was likely also impacted by the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this summer. After he was shot in July, he spent about a month avoiding outdoor rallies. When he does them now, he appears behind bulletproof glass.
"President Trump’s signature rallies remain a staple of his efforts on the campaign trail," Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
Indeed, the campaign plans to ramp up rallies as November approaches. In 2016, Trump did nearly 70 rallies over the weeks ahead of Election Day, and nearly as many amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Sometimes, he would do five per day.
The former president does have a packed schedule this week traversing the battleground states. On Monday night, he’s scheduled to hold a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He will speak about the tax code and U.S. manufacturing in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he's scheduled to deliver a speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina—almost certainly without the state’s gubernatorial candidate, Mark Robinson, until recently a close Trump ally, whose campaign has imploded over his “black NAZI” and porn revelations. Trump ends the week with a speech in Walker, Michigan.
Trump is also doing a bevy of non-rally events this year, Leavitt noted. He often does work-from-home TV and podcast appearances, as well as press conferences. In total, he and running mate JD Vance have done more than 70 such events, plus additional sit-downs with conservative commentators, while Harris and her running mate have done only a handful.
