On both small and large matters alike, Donald Trump breaks commitments as he breathes. In the latest example, his pledge to hold a Ted Cruz rally at “the biggest stadium in Texas” came crumbling to the ground on Monday.
According to the Trump campaign, the president will hold a MAGA rally on Monday, Oct. 22 at NRG Arena in Houston, Texas.
The Trump Texas rally is set — next Monday in Houston pic.twitter.com/Vz5Cwp82Jt
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) October 15, 2018
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According to Yashar Ali, the capacity of NRG Arena is a weak 8,000.
Capacity is 8,000 https://t.co/7o2HlnEO4A
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 15, 2018
Of course, the announcement from the Trump team comes after the president tweeted in August that he would be “doing a major rally” for Cruz at “the biggest stadium in Texas we can find.”
I will be doing a major rally for Senator Ted Cruz in October. I’m picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find. As you know, Ted has my complete and total Endorsement. His opponent is a disaster for Texas – weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2018
Obviously, the president and his people didn’t spend much time looking.
NRG Arena isn’t even the largest venue in the neighborhood
Not only is the arena Trump picked not the biggest in the state, as he promised, but it’s not even the largest in the neighborhood. Nearby NRG Stadium – different from NRG Arena – holds tens of thousands of people.
As Dallas News pointed out, “At least one venue in Texas holds more than 180,000 and NRG Arena isn’t even the biggest venue in Houston, let alone in Texas.”
Meanwhile, while Trump settled on a small venue for his “Make America Great Again” rally for Ted Cruz, the Democratic challenger in Texas, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, held what was the largest political rally since the 2016 presidential campaign in Austin last month.
According to the El Paso Times, “55,000 people stood crammed together at Auditorium Shores in Austin” for an O’Rourke rally in September.
While polls show that Ted Cruz has the edge ahead of the Nov. 6 election, the enthusiasm and passion is clearly with the O’Rourke campaign. Whether that can overcome the deep-red roots of Texas is another question.
Still, the fact that the sitting GOP president and incumbent Republican senator can’t fill a bigger stadium in conservative Texas is, as Trump would say, “Sad!”
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
