Throwback to When Trump Tried To Remove ‘Hundreds’ of Chairs From an Event To Cover Up a Low Turnout

Before Donald Trump's appearance at a conference of religious broadcasters in Nashville, Tennessee, hundreds of empty seats were allegedly pushed out to hide the fact that his turnout was rather low. The Republican front-runner gave a speech on February 22 at the International Christian Media Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), per Newsweek. The former president did not appear until two hours and forty minutes after the NRB presidential event started, according to Vivian Jones, a writer for The Tennessean.

"The room is far from full. About 20 minutes ago, staff cleared out about 300 chairs from the far back corner. Photo on the left was taken just after 7 pm, photo on the right was taken just now," Jones wrote on X. The pictures she posted on social media depict the same room at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, but there are a lot fewer chairs at the back of the room. The second image indicates that most of the seats are full, in contrast to the first image which displays rows of vacant seats.

This is not the first time Trump has tried to hide a low turnout. A 2018 investigation revealed that Trump had his inauguration photos edited out to inflate the number of people present at the event, per The Guardian. After Trump was enraged by photos suggesting his inauguration attendance was less than that of Barack Obama in 2009, the government photographer, in response to Trump's request for fresh photos on the first morning of his administration, clipped off the blank area “where the crowd ended.” 

Although the low turnout could be suggestive, Trump remains the GOP favorite as the presidential candidate. Recent polling data, according to Real Clear Politics, indicates that Trump is easily leading his sole remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, with 74.9 percent of probable Republican voters choosing him.

At the Tennessee event, Trump tried to stoke religious sentiment to gain more support. The former president invoked Christian faith to rally support for his third presidential run in 2024, framing the race as a fight for Christianity. He declared to the forum's attendees that, should he be elected, he would "protect God in the public square," according to The Tennessean. The former president, who has been married three times and is set to stand trial for reportedly giving adult film star Stormy Daniels hush money, says he identifies as "a very proud Christian, actually" at the rally. "I believe it's the biggest thing missing from this country, the biggest thing. We have to bring back our religion. We have to bring back Christianity," Trump said.

On March 5, Tennessee voters will participate in the Republican presidential primary; early voting is now underway. Before the Volunteer State, on February 24, Trump defeated Haley in her home state, South Carolina. Haley is still optimistic that she can win, even though Trump is slated to win Tennessee, according to many polls.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 28, 2024. It has since been updated.