The national polls all say Democrat Joe Biden holds a significant lead over President Trump, but you can’t tell that from the crowds that are coming out to see the two presidential candidates.
While Trump is busily hop-scotching around the country in the final days of the 2020 campaign holding rallies before thousands of adoring fans, Joe Biden is playing to much smaller crowds — sometimes just a few dozen people, sometimes zero.
When Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) made a campaign stop last week in Phoenix, there was not a single supporter in sight, KSAZ-TV reporter Nicole Garcia said.
“Not a lot of fanfare out here,” Garcia reported. “There’s really not much to see. I’ll step out of the way, but it’s kinda’ boring out here. So, it’s not your typical presidential campaign event; we don’t see people rallying outside, we don’t see signs or really much of what’s going on.”
The Biden campaign held a rally on Friday in Detroit, which The Blaze described as “dismal.”
“Video from the sparsely attended rally was shared on Twitter, where online commenters quickly noticed that Biden’s teleprompter was bigger than his crowd,” the website wrote. “Video from the sparsely attended rally was shared on Twitter, where online commenters quickly noticed that Biden’s teleprompter was bigger than his crowd.”
Joe Biden reads from a teleprompter as he delivers remarks in Detroit tonight #JoeBiden #Biden2020 #Biden pic.twitter.com/rSA1DEH6an
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) October 16, 2020
Team Biden has bristled over reports that the 77-year-old candidate uses teleprompters during interviews.
Last month, Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo, “Has Joe Biden ever used a teleprompter during local interviews or to answer Q&A with supporters?”
“Bret, we’re not gonna’ — this is straight from the Trump campaign talking points,” Ducklo said, to which Baier said, “Well, yeah, they’re using it.”
“What it does, Bret, is it’s trying to distract the American people,” Ducklo said. “They’re using it. They talk about it every day.”
Baier said, pressing, “Can you say yes or no?” Ducklo didn’t answer.
Trump, meanwhile, often talks without notes for an hour or more at rallies that draw far more people. Trump drew an estimated 10,000 people to his Janesville, WI, rally on Saturday.
On the other hand, in an event on Tuesday, Biden drew about 60 people.
Perhaps 60 people in room at Southwest Focal Point Senior Center in Pembroke Pines for @JoeBiden remarks on senior issues.
Room has social distancing circles on carpet. Everyone wearing masks. Mostly media, some campaign staff, some Broward Democratic activists. pic.twitter.com/tix76Ex7YB— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) October 13, 2020
The day before, Biden delivered a speech in front of around 30 socially-distanced cars of supporters at a “drive-in rally” in Ohio.
Biden also plans no campaign rallies before the final presidential debate, CBS’s Ed O’Keefe said on “Face The Nation,” noting that the Democrat “will not be seen again after today until Thursday night.”
Fox News Channel has been tracking the former vice president’s barely-there schedule.
“Since his Aug. 11 selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, Biden has had 22 days where he either didn’t make public appearances, held only virtual fundraisers or ventured from his Delaware home solely for church, according to an Associated Press analysis of his schedules,” Fox reported last month. “He made 12 visits outside of Delaware during that period, including a trip to Washington scheduled for Friday to pay respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
During that same time period, Trump had 24 trips that took him to 17 different states, as well as a visit to New York to see his ailing brother in the hospital or weekend golf outings.
Related: Biden Takes Half As Many Questions As Trump Over Last 6 Weeks