The Democrats spent most of Friday bragging about the crowd that Kamala Harris turned out to her event in Houston, Texas.
Sure, the “campaign event” was more of a Beyoncé concert than anything else. Sure, there were numerous reports of sustained boos and heckling when Harris finally started speaking; apparently, some Texans may not have appreciated mixing an actual message with the concert they’d showed up for.
But there was no denying that it looked great, at least at first glance:
Here in Houston, the emcee asked Kamala Harris’ rally to do a “blue wave.” Crowd count is the largest yet for a Harris event, 30,000, per a campaign official. pic.twitter.com/ZMCIhuZ93d
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 26, 2024
And gosh, were Democrats all over this as proof that Texas was going blue — if not in the presidential election, than at least in the close-ish Senate race between Collin Allred and Ted Cruz:
Pure joy and energy at the Kamala Harris rally in Houston, Texas. Republicans don’t know what’s coming their way this election. Never seen anything like this before. pic.twitter.com/gH5uVE3pr1
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) October 25, 2024
Kamala Harris packed a 22,000+ capacity stadium in Houston, Texas today.
Donald Trump’s fledgling supporters are fleeing his Traverse City, Michigan rally after he told them he’s 2hrs+ late
Which campaign is low energy, again? pic.twitter.com/KkR5vaGMtY
— Philip Germain (@PhilipJGermain) October 26, 2024
Does Kamala Harris have a chance in Texas?
Y’all, Texas has turnt up for Kamala. pic.twitter.com/Pjb8EAjEPm
— Matthew (@authoridad) October 25, 2024
Holy sh*t. Of all the Kamala Harris rallies I’ve watched, I’ve never seen anything like this. THOUSANDS of people are doing the swag on the floor & in the stands. Texas isn’t going back. This is AMAZING. pic.twitter.com/yyLPWQKEUf
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) October 26, 2024
Wow, they could find 30,000 people willing to turn up to a Beyoncé concert in her hometown. Stop the presses, please.
But I digress, because across the Lone Star State in Austin, Donald Trump also turned up the same day to speak with podcaster Joe Rogan. And if you’re wondering which one has reached more people on Friday, let’s just put it this way: Thirteen hours after it was posted, the video had at least 11.5 million more views on YouTube than Harris had attendees.
What about Texas going back?
The interview itself was notable in several way, notably for Trump actually acknowledging a mistake (one more than Harris, at least) in terms of “bad choices” in terms of “neocons”
“The biggest mistake I made … I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked,” Trump said during the interview.
Rogan then asked if this was the doing of “neocons,” or neoconservatives, a label for interventionist conservatives with globalist economic policies that saw its height during the George W. Bush administration.
“Yeah, neocons, or bad people, or disloyal people,” Trump said, specifically naming former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Meanwhile, Rogan — whose political views tend toward that of a heterodox independent — said that he wanted Trump in after the assassination attempt against him.
“Once they shot you, I was like, ‘He’s got to come in here,’” Rogan said. “It’s all about timing.”
The full episode is here, in case you missed it:
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
Now, obviously, there will be plenty more headlines to come out of Trump’s appearance — one that Harris has declined to make, with her campaign saying she’s too busy.
She’s busy drawing 30,000 in a state where it probably won’t make much of a difference — and most of those people were there to see Queen Bey. Trump, halfway across Texas, was drawing millions of more people, and that was just on YouTube. Not only that, they were from all over the United States.
Tell me again which one got the bigger boost on Friday?
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