A child waits in line as he attends a rally hosted by US President Donald Trump in Chillicothe, Ohio, US, October 28, 2026. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Once the man who could fill stadiums, Trump appears to be aiming decidedly lower for venue size.
“NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Garrett Haake, who has covered ‘dozens if not hundreds’ of President Donald Trump’s rallies, expressed surprise at the size of the venue selected for the president’s latest campaign event, saying he couldn’t recall ever seeing the president speak in such a small space,” reports Mediaite.
Trump is in Chillicothe, Ohio, for a Wednesday night rally, as part of his national effort to ramp up MAGA interest in Republican candidates ahead of next week’s midterm elections. Mediaite reports Trump is expected to sell Republican candidates Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who is facing hot battle against popular Democrat Sherrod Brown, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who appears to be running a difficult campaign for governor against Democrat Amy Acton.
“According to Haake, though, the size of Wednesday’s rally venue is raising some eyebrows,” Mediaite reports.
“I’ve covered dozens if not hundreds of Trump rallies and I can’t recall him ever holding one in a room as small as this arena in Chillicothe, Ohio,” the chief White House correspondent wrote on X. “It’ll be packed and loud — but maybe 1000 people will fit.”
“It looks like a high school gym?” said one critic under the post.
“Elementary school more like it,” countered another.
Trump is holding his event at an indoor athletic facility on Ohio University’s Chillicothe campus.
“During Trump’s last trip to Ohio, on Oct. 12, he stopped in Youngstown, where he first remarked — in a story he’s since repeated — that he ‘started examining’ Husted’s body after learning he was an All-American defensive back at the University of Dayton, adding, ‘I watched up and down. I looked at his a--, and I looked at the whole — and then I looked at his hands,’” reports Mediaite.
Ramaswamy, the other Republican Trump plans to rally for on Wednesday night, is not doing so well according to new internal polling.
According to Axios, Democratic candidate Amy Acton has widened her lead on Republican Vivek Ramaswamy after his campaign aired a personal attack ad that drew bipartisan outrage.
“Republicans fear that Vivek Ramaswamy's explosive attack ad featuring his opponent's estranged mother could cost them the Ohio governor's race, based on new internal polling that shows him falling further behind,” Axios reported.