PHOTO: Donald Trump Packs Arena, Hillary Draws 200 at Dueling Events

Trump Crowd Twitter
@dmartosko/Twitter
Michelle Moons

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump packed an Estero, Florida arena with thousands inside and more outside for a Monday rally.

The News-Press estimated the crowd at more than 8,000 people and the heat at over 90 degrees outside the arena where attendees stood before gaining entrance to the event.

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton spoke at Temple University the same day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was reportedly attended by less than 200 people. At the event targeted to millennial voters she acknowledged a need to court the youth vote, according to local NBC10 News. Clinton’s campaign launched “Pennsylvania Millennials for Hillary” aimed at showing support for boosting youth economic opportunities and dealing with college debt.

By way of further comparison, Hillary Clinton held a rally at the University of South Florida on September 6 that drew a 1,500 person crowd, according to the Tampa Bay Times, while a September 9 rally for Trump in Pensacola drew 12,000, according to WTSP10 News.Trump declared that those wanting to come to America must love the United States and Americans during his Monday afternoon rally near Fort Meyers.

Chanting broke out in the crowd in response to Trump: “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.”

After a brief pause Trump began clapping for the crowd and said of them, “What amazing people.”

“Ya know Florida, I think we’re gonna win by a lot. We’ll win by a lot,” declared Trump.

“I can say this, when Hillary [Clinton] comes in, she has very small crowds. That I can tell you. And I hope the press is covering the size of this arena and the crowd here and the thousands that are outside … Which they’re not. Which they’re not,” Trump said.

Clinton held a rally at the University of South Florida in early September that drew a much smaller 1,500 person crowd, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Clinton has a rally planned for this coming Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, according to WESH2 News. The venue and time were not yet disclosed.

CBS News campaign trail journalist Sopan Deb tweeted a photo showing the size of the Fort Meyers Trump crowd:

RightSide Broadcasting tweeted that its livestream broadcast of the Trump event had reached over 33,000 viewers.

Germain Arena, the location where the Trump rally was held, holds a seating capacity of 7,000 for most events according to the arena’s website, and over 8,500 for concerts.

The News-Press tweeted video of Trump rally-goers observing the National Anthem:

DailyMail U.S. Political Editor David Martosko tweeted this photo of the Florida crowd inside:

https://twitter.com/dmartosko/status/777971494576152576

Martosko also testified in a tweet to the crowd gathered outside:

https://twitter.com/dmartosko/status/777953560856236032

Meanwhile Clinton spoke at Temple University the same day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

CBS Philly tweeted a photo of the event:

Fox News contributor Jesse Watters posted this photo from Temple:

Politico Magazine Senior Writer Michael Grunwald tweeted this about the Temple Clinton rally:

A RealClearPolitics average of Florida polls puts Trump up slightly on Clinton, 45.7 percent to 44.8 as of Monday afternoon.

This comes despite Clinton far outspending Trump in campaign ads in Florida, according to the New York Times.

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana 

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