Viral Photos Appear To Show Empty Seats at Donald Trump’s Florida Speech

Viral posts on social media appear to show numerous empty seats during former president Donald Trump’s speech at a GOP summit in Florida.

Both Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis returned to their shared home state to address the Florida Republican Party’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee on Saturday.

Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, despite his numerous legal woes, while DeSantis’ campaign has struggled.

Trump, the final candidate to speak on Saturday, garnered “the largest and most enthusiastic” audience at the event, according to The Washington Post.

“We’re going to win the Florida primary for the third straight time, and we’re going to win the state by a landslide next November,” Trump told the crowd before calling to the stage several Florida lawmakers who had flipped their endorsements from DeSantis ahead of Saturday’s event.

They stood onstage next to a screen that read, “Florida is Trump Country.”

But some on social media said that was far from true.

“Florida is NOT Trump country. Don’t let them fool you,” Debbie Matthews wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, above a photo that showed dozens of empty seats toward the back of the room where Trump was speaking.

“This looks like the matinee showing during the previews.”

In another post that went viral, Peter Henlein shared the same photo of empty seats during Trump’s speech along with a photo appearing to show DeSantis taking the stage “to a packed room.”

However, supporters of Trump also shared photos taken from different vantage points, showing a large crowd at Trump’s appearance and videos of the audience chanting Trump’s name.

The Trump campaign also posted a photo showing empty seats during DeSantis’ speech.

Others said both Trump and DeSantis attracted big audiences.

“Everyone talking about Trump and DeSantis’ crowds today are just pushing emotional talking points for their guy,” Brendon Leslie, the founder and CEO of Florida’s Voice, wrote on X alongside photos.

“The crowd on the left is DeSantis and the crowd on the right is Trump. They were both packed.”

Some also suggested that the timing of the photos was a factor in how many empty seats could be seen.

One person said many Trump supporters left during the former president’s speech.

“I was actually stunned by how many left by 6:45 p.m. Many Trump supporters running to find the shuttle out of the convention center by 6:50 p.m.,” Leslea Snyder wrote.

Newsweek has contacted the Trump and DeSantis campaigns for comment via email.