Donald Trump Reportedly Questions J.D. Vance’s Ability to Draw Rally Crowds

Donald Trump has privately raised concerns about how many people J.D. Vance can bring out to campaign events, according to a report citing people familiar with the president’s conversations. The account says Trump has remarked on Vance’s comparatively modest crowds while contrasting them with the larger audiences he says he attracts. The report depicts Trump as campaigning frequently while also worrying about Republican prospects in the November 3 midterm elections. Vance, the vice president, is widely viewed as a potential future Republican presidential nominee, adding political weight to scrutiny of his campaign appearances. White House spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez rejected the suggestion that the two men were not working hard. In a statement, she described Trump as “the hardest working person in the country, followed by J.D. Vance,” and said both were raising money, traveling around the country and helping candidates in the midterms. Trump has held rallies in competitive districts and swing states, telling supporters he is working to elect Republicans. At a North Carolina event, he praised the scale of his audiences, saying they were massive and that thousands more watched on screens outside. He has also presented the elections as a referendum on his own leadership. The report points to events where attendance appeared more limited. At a September 21 rally for North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley at Greensboro’s Koury Convention Center, which can hold 3,000 people, Vance reportedly drew an estimated 300. Trump had also appeared at a September 16 event for Whatley at Gastonia Municipal Airport, where the article says fewer than 1,000 people attended. Vance later spoke at a Michigan event for Senate candidate Mike Rogers, where Rogers addressed a crowd of about 1,000 before the vice president took the stage. Vance also campaigned in North Carolina for congressional candidate Jennifer Balkcom. The report presents the differing crowd sizes as a source of private concern for Trump, while the White House maintains that both men are actively campaigning for Republican candidates.