RALEIGH, N.C. — At a pre-Election Day rally here Monday, former President Donald Trump He was speaking at a venue in North Carolina that was about 70% full; It was a sight that became increasingly familiar last week.

Trump has been holding his signature rallies since his inauguration came to the political scene In 2015 and in the nine years since, it has regularly drawn large and enthusiastic crowds across the country, from urban centers to remote rural areas, where supporters have consistently turned out, sometimes despite. icy conditions or extreme temperature.

The events were so packed that thousands of people were unable to get in and stayed outside the venue to show their support.

This seems to have changed since Trump controversial rally last week at Madison Square Garden in New York. racist jokes Insights on Latinos and Black Americans from a comedian and multiple speakers who used incendiary language to describe Trump’s rival, the Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, there were more than a thousand empty seats and no lines to get in at the first of four rallies of the day.

At his second rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, the arena appeared to be half full shortly before Trump began his remarks. The timing of his speech was later pushed back an hour.

Trump drew thousands to his third event at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, but even there the upper deck’s curtains were closed and some seats were empty.

Similar scenes took place last week.

In Macon, Ga., on Sunday, Trump did not fill the venue where he spoke, and attendees walked out immediately after his speech.

events in Kingston, NC and Lititz, Pa.Likewise, only a few thousand people attended on Sunday.

Some places still attracted large crowds; rally in Milwaukee He made a full appearance at the Fiserv Forum on Friday night. Trump referenced that rally in his speech in Raleigh on Monday, estimating the crowd inside at 28,000. maximum capacity 18,000 for this venue. “We could have filled that arena three, maybe four times,” Trump said.

But on Saturday night, he couldn’t come close to filling the gap. greensboro arena that his team had booked – they blocked off the entire upper deck and there were about three empty sections behind the lower bowl.

It attracted just a few thousand supporters Saturday morning in Gastonia, N.C., about a half-hour outside of downtown Charlotte.

At some rallies, the crowds began to thin further while Trump was still speaking; It’s an issue he’s been defensive about in the past, including in his speech on September 10. debate with Harris. “People don’t leave my rallies,” he said. “We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

Asked to comment on the smaller crowd, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “NBC News is deplorable and will write anything to discredit the massive, diverse political movement that President Trump has built.”

Trump has long focused on crowd size, often grossly exaggerating the numbers. One of the most notable examples of this was when then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer angrily rebuffed accurate reports that: Fewer people attended the opening more than his predecessor, Barack Obama.

“This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, both in person and worldwide,” Spicer said.

More recently, Trump falsely claimed in August that his rally ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a failure. attracted more participants More from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the National Mall. “We actually had more people,” Trump said.

Crowd for Trump’s speech was anticipated Being around 53,000, according to the House committee investigating the riot. King’s crowd is estimated to be approximately five times that amount.

Harris’ campaign said nearly 75,000 people attended her speech last week on the same site as Trump’s speech on January 6. Trump claimed it was transporting people by bus “because they couldn’t get anyone to come for him.”

The former president also repeatedly questioned the size of the crowds Harris drew, accused her of paying attendees, and in another instance falsely claimed her campaign was wrong. using artificial intelligence to make the crowd appear larger than it actually is.

Harris made a point of needling him as best he could, depending on the size of the crowd. When he was interrupted by pro-Trump protesters at a rally in Wisconsin last month, he told them they “should go to the smaller rally down the street.” His running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, also got in on the joke. Surprised by the large audience at a rally in Phoenix in August, Walz joked: “It’s like no one cares about the size of the crowd or anything.”

If Trump has noticed his smaller audience lately, He did not openly admit this.

“Every rally is full. You don’t have an empty seat,” Trump said in Greensboro on Saturday, despite the number of empty seats in the arena.

The smaller crowds with less enthusiastic attendees so close to Election Day surprised some Republicans, but it’s unclear what the reason and significance was and whether it was evidence that his campaign’s momentum was waning.

Possible reasons include his frequent presence in some areas (he appeared at the same Greensboro arena two weeks ago and spoke to a larger crowd) and that people who had already voted early did not feel the need to go to the rally.

Vaughn Hillyard and Jake Traylor reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Dareh Gregorian reported from New York.