Vice President JD Vance, who’s been talked up as a successor to President Donald Trump in 2028, probably won’t like the numbers he saw Tuesday at Akins Ford Arena in Athens, Georgia.
A viral video from MS NOW reporter Jake Traylor showed the indoor stadium “less than 25% filled” as Vance spoke (watch it below). Associated Press noted “the mostly empty arena.” The Daily Beast reported that the tickets were free, adding to Vance’s humiliation before an “embarrassing” turnout.
Traylor’s panning video of the Turning Point USA event, which CEO Erika Kirk reportedly backed out of due to security concerns, showed it might have been a drawing concern as well.
Some disputed the veracity of the video, and local outlets like the Athens Banner Herald and University of Georgia student newspaper The Red & Black didn’t mention the tiny attendance.
But it seems downplaying President Donald Trump’s apparent depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and backing a war of choice against Iran that is rattling the globe isn’t a recipe for attracting fans. Neither, it seems, is flopping on a foreign mission to get an autocratic pal of the president reelected in Hungary and failing to secure a permanent ceasefire in said war.
