Fewer than 25 minutes into Donald Trump’s remarks, Melissa Prescott walked out.
She arrived at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall at 8:30 a.m. on a hot September day, waited in line outside with her teen daughter for more than four hours, then waited another hour inside before Trump took the stage about 2:15 p.m. As Trump was complaining about 2016 exit polls and speaking about how he likes “the old people the best,” Prescott, along with dozens of others, started trickling out.
“I’m glad we got in. I wish I could stay to hear more,” said Prescott, 36, who explained that she needed to go pick up her disabled cousin.
The Republican presidential nominee consistently draws large, enthusiastic and rowdy crowds to his rallies and other campaign events, and at nearly all of them, another trend is clear: Scores of people leave early.
Most stay. But Trump often runs late and goes long, prompting many to bow out because of other responsibilities, priorities or, sometimes, waning patience and interest, according to Washington Post interviews and observations across dozens of events. Some said they wanted to beat traffic or had work the next day. Others complained about sound quality. One man wanted to go home to his French bulldog. Another needed to get home to his daughter. A third had a Yorkie with him that started acting out. A fourth man said his phone died.
The early rally departures have touched a nerve in Trump, who has long shown intense interest in attendance, ratings and other optics. He has mentioned the subject in a defensive tone lately after Vice President Kamala Harris needled him over it and suggested people leave out of “exhaustion and boredom.”
“Honestly nobody” leaves the rallies, Trump said at a recent town hall in Flint, Mich. At an event in Walker, Mich., Trump insisted “nobody ever leaves,” before adding, “and when they do, I finish up quick, believe me.” Trump then suggested that it looks like people are leaving their seats because they want to come up and take photos with him.
The departures and Trump’s reaction have received attention on late-night television shows. “Where the h— is everyone going? Where are you going? I see you trying to leave, but the doors are locked,” asked James Austin Johnson, playing Trump in a recent “Saturday Night Live” sketch. Meanwhile, Harris’s campaign has continued to taunt Trump on social media, posting video of people leaving his events.
A representative for Trump’s campaign pointed to the large audiences he attracts at many of his rallies. “The fake news media never wants to report the truth about President Trump’s rallies: they are the biggest political events in history,” Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. “Everywhere President Trump goes, thousands of supporters show up to see him, waiting in line for hours to hear him deliver his uplifting message to make America strong, safe, and wealthy again.”
Trump repeatedly has resisted entreaties from advisers and allies to cut down on his speeches. “They want a show. They want two hours,” Trump said this year to an ally who suggested shorter speeches. Like others, the ally spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.
The former president has told advisers that after people stand for so long and wait for so long, he needs to give them something more than a “boring policy speech,” one person who has spoken to him said. The speechwriters craft remarks that are usually designed to go for 60 to 90 minutes, a campaign adviser said, but they know Trump will veer repeatedly off the script.
In Atlanta, over the summer, crowds gathered for several blocks in the sweltering heat down a busy highway, waiting to get inside a Trump rally. But as he kept talking, slashing into Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and going off script, hundreds if not thousands of people left the arena.
More recently, in Indiana, Pa., attendees trickled out as Trump falsely claimed that “every legal expert” wanted abortion policy sent back to the states, over an hour into his speech. More left as he repeated his warning about “World War III.”
By 9:20 p.m., about 90 minutes after he began, the empty seats were noticeable at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, while Trump called the nation’s capital a “horror show.” He wrapped up his speech about five minutes later.
“We want Trump!” his crowds have chanted at several rallies, after waiting for four or five hours.
In Las Vegas, some attendees grew frustrated with Trump’s tardiness and said they had trouble hearing him. A reporter standing by the door counted more than 200 people leaving in the first 20 minutes. One attendee said they still loved Trump but said the former president would have said “You’re fired” if anyone else had been as late as he was.
Anastasia Bennett, 22, quickly grew tired of the insults and was ready to leave. Bennett was undecided before attending the rally with her aunt, who supports Harris. But after hearing Trump speak, she said she planned to vote for Harris.
“It was the insults and just being an hour late,” she said.
In Tucson, some attendees began filing out around the time Prescott left. Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake was among the first to exit. She waved at supporters outside who had been unable to get into the event but had remained there in hopes of being let in late or catching a glimpse of Trump exiting afterward.
As Carlos Chaboya, 65, left to walk to his car a few blocks away, a man in his truck stopped to ask him if Trump was still speaking onstage. Another man on foot asked him if people could still get into the rally.
“He’s still going. I gotta go home, but he’s still on,” Chaboya said, warning the man that they weren’t letting anyone else in.
Chaboya said he arrived about 8:30 a.m. and, like Prescott, was among the last to be let into the venue. He said he was leaving because his daughter, who is home-schooled, called him and said the internet wasn’t working.
“I gotta get it back up for her, so I’m gonna go do that,” said Chaboya, who is retired.
Prescott said she was excited to see Trump, even if briefly, after driving for two hours in August to Glendale and waiting more than two more hours in line, only to be turned away because the rally was at capacity.
When she entered the Tucson event, Prescott was frustrated to learn that the concession stands were already closed, and she and her daughter were unable to get food.
LeVine reported from Uniondale, N.Y., and Indiana, Pa. Rodriguez reported from Tucson. Dawsey reported from Atlanta. Cheeseman reported from Las Vegas.