Despite Trump's Boast of a Sold-Out Convention, Venue Has Large Empty Sections

[Financial News] Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's boast on the 9th (local time) that "a tremendous crowd will show up tonight," empty seats were conspicuous throughout the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, where the GOP convention was held. Only the first level was full, while one-quarter of the second level remained empty. The third and fourth levels were vacant as the event proceeded. The GOP had initially expected around 20,000 people to attend the convention, but the actual turnout appeared likely to fall far short of that figure.
At the convention, Donald Trump said it "looks very big and very exciting" and that he planned to "explain the things we have accomplished." He emphasized, "The economy is very strong, and the investment in our country is the largest in the history of not only us, but of any country," adding that "factories are being built all over the world right now."
Donald Trump also engaged in a heated exchange with reporters who asked why some Republican members from battleground areas had not attended the convention. Some Republican lawmakers and candidates were reportedly absent because of district schedules and campaign activities, or because they were weighing the "Trump risk," including the president's declining approval ratings.
Donald Trump responded, "Everybody wants to come to the convention, but we only want the people who are supposed to come." He then asked the reporter who had posed the question, "What network are you with?" before launching into a tirade: "ABC fake news. The worst of the worst. I think you're the worst."
The event then featured overt mockery and criticism aimed at The Democratic Party. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, said, "The Democratic Party today is not the Democratic Party of your fathers. The Democratic Party has been completely taken over by crazy communists, and I call it the 'Bolshevik Revolution within the Democratic Party.'" Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican and House majority whip, also declared, "Every Democrat is a socialist, a communist and an anarchist," adding, "The only thing they agree on is their disgusting hatred of America and the great President Trump."
Foreign policy and the war in Iran were entirely absent from the agenda. Major issues, including the current state and future direction of the Trump administration's foreign policy and possible solutions to the prolonged war in Iran, were not included among the convention's topics.
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