While delegates and party leaders gathered in Chicago for the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied supporters over 80 miles away, in the same city that Republicans nominated her rival just a few weeks prior.
Harris’ campaign said that over 15,000 supporters gathered at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Tuesday night, where the Democratic nominee spoke alongside her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The vice president took the stage in Wisconsin immediately after the DNC finished a ceremonial roll-call, where delegates confirmed Harris and Walz as their choice for the 2024 presidential ticket.
“We are so honored to be your nominees,” Harris said from Milwaukee while addressing the DNC via a live stream. “Together we will chart a new way forward.”
Harris’ rally was held at the same event center where former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican National Convention’s presidential nomination last month, invoking comparisons online of the two event’s crowd size. Photos and videos appear to show that Harris’ rally garnered a similar crowd to the first day of the RNC on July 15, where Trump made his first public appearance after surviving an assassination attempt two days prior.
NBC News correspondent Yamiche Alcindor shared a “360 view” of the crowd in Milwaukee Tuesday night to X, formerly Twitter, writing that rally-goers for Harris and Walz were “cheering” and “enthusiastic.”
The Harris campaign says more than 15,000 people are in attendance at the Milwaukee rally tonight at the Fiserv Forum, the same space where the RNC was held.
The crowd is cheering and enthusiastic as they just watched Gov Walz’s speech and are watching the DNC roll call. pic.twitter.com/fPXeBwCRRT
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 21, 2024
In a separate video posted to X by Turning Point USA reporter Savannah Hernandez Tuesday night, the Fiserv Forum appeared filled with energized supporters before the vice president took the stage. Hernandez said her video was taken after the doors to the rally officially closed. The Fiserv Forum has a seating capacity of 18,000.
“This is not a concert,” Victor Shi, a member of Harris’ youth engagement team, wrote in a post X along with a video of Tuesday’s rally. “This is the political rally for Kamala Harris & Tim Walz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Totally full arena. This will make Trump go crazy.”
This is not a concert. This is the political rally for Kamala Harris & Tim Walz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Totally full arena. This will make Trump go crazy. pic.twitter.com/HTdQlAaQ8P
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) August 21, 2024
Trump, who has been accused of inflating the size of his rally crowds, has recently raised complaints against news outlets for reporting on the size of Harris’ rallies while not focusing on his crowd size. Walz poked fun at the former president while addressing supporters Tuesday, saying from the stage, “Not only do we have massive energy in our convention, we have a hell of a lot more energy where they had their convention…That other guy is going to be so sad tonight, so sad.”
It’s unclear how many people were in attendance each night of the RNC, although a party official reportedly predicted before the convention that peak daily attendance was expected to reach 20,000. The DNC is being hosted in the United Center in Chicago, which has a seating capacity of 23,500. Organizers estimate that over 20,000 people attended the first night of the DNC on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Newsweek reached out to Harris and Trump’s campaigns via email Tuesday night for comment.
