Donald Trump Falsely Claims 'A.I.' is Responsible for the 12,000+ Attending Kamala Harris Rallies
Republican Kevin McCarthy told Fox News the former president should “stop questioning the size of her crowds"
Slaven Vlasic/Getty; Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg/Getty
Kamala Harris and Donald TrumpDonald Trump is again arguing about crowd size — this time, falsely claiming that the large rally crowds at events held by his political rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, are the result of "A.I."
Harris, 59, has held a number of large-scale events since launching her campaign for president after Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month. Some of those rallies, like one held last week in Detroit, have brought out an estimated 15,000 people.
But Trump — who reportedly had his 2018 inauguration photos edited so that the number of attendees would appear greater — claimed that Harris "A.I.'d" what he called a “fake crowd picture.”
Dozens of photos and videos taken at recent Harris events — both by attendees of the rallies and members of the media — easily disprove Trump's false claims.
The Harris campaign has since pushed back on Trump's false claims, sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter) with "an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan," and accusing Trump of being "low energy" for not campaigning in a swing state "in over a week."
Republican Kevin McCarthy — the former Speaker of the House — has criticized Trump for the messaging, saying on Fox News that the former president's focus on Harris' crowd size is distracting him from touting his own message.
"You've got to make this race not on personalities," McCarthy told the network. “Stop questioning the size of her crowds, and start questioning her positions."
Andrew Harnik/Getty
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at a campaign eventNever miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
Trump, 78, is no stranger to focusing on crowd size. Back in 2019, he often falsely claimed that his rallies were more well-attended than those held by other politicians. He also once bragged about crowd size while touring a hospital in El Paso, Texas, in the wake of a mass shooting at a local Walmart.
As recently as last week, Trump falsely claimed that the crowd at his now-infamous January 6, 2021 rally was the "same number of people" as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic "I have a dream" speech.
According to the National Parks Service, King Jr.'s 1963 speech — which was about civil rights and ending racism in the United States — drew an estimated 250,000 people.
Meanwhile, Trump's 2021 speech — which was made to falsely claim that the election he lost had been "stolen" from him — was attended by 53,000, according to the House select committee that investigated the Capitol riots that ensued that day.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.