How Many Attended Trump’s Florence, South Carolina, Rally? See Crowd Photos

Former President Donald Trump hosted a “Save America” rally on Saturday, March 12, in Florence, South Carolina. Despite the cold and rainy weather, local media reported that “thousands” attended. Here’s a look at how many people attended Trump’s rally, including crowd photos and updates about what happened.

Thousands Attended Trump’s South Carolina Rally as Temperatures Dipped Near Freezing, According to Media at the Event

The rally took place at the Florence Regional Airport in Florence, South Carolina. Although doors opened in the afternoon, Trump’s speech was scheduled to begin around 7 p.m. Eastern. Doors opened at 2 p.m.

Guests at the event included Gov. Henry McMaster, South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry, coach Lou Holtz, Graham Allen, Brandon Judd, state GOP chair Drew McKissick, and former state Rep. Katie Arrington, CBS 42 reported. Secret Service set up a “no drone zone” for Trump’s event, CBS 42 shared.

Jack Bilyeu of WBTW News 13 shared this photo of the crowd when Trump got on stage.

Adam Benson, reporting for The Sun News, shared that temperatures were expected to get down to 23 degrees when the sun went down. He wrote that the cold had not “deterred a crowd that’s swelled into the thousands.” This is the closest to an attendance count that has been shared yet, as of the time of this article’s publication. Heavy will update this story if more details are shared or if police or security give an official estimate.

Daily Mail referred to the crowd as consisting of “hundreds of Trump supporters.” However, Benson’s estimate above of thousands is closer to accurate, based on photos and videos from the event, which are shared throughout this story.

Victoria Hansen of SCPublicRadio shared this photo while Trump was speaking.

Gavin Jackson of SCETV shared this view of the rally, when it was already down to 36 degrees a couple of hours before Trump was set to speak. His second video shows a packed crowd watching as Trump took the stage. (The video was shared after Trump had spoken.)

Newsmax, a conservative publication, reported that it was “cold and wet weather” during the rally. By the time the rally ended, temperatures were down to 34 degrees, just a couple of degrees above freezing.

Bilyeu shared this photo from about 30 minutes before the rally was set to begin. At that time, quite a few empty seats could still be seen.

Some seats did fill up closer to Trump speaking.

Ben Bergquam of the conservative media outlet Real America’s Voice shared this video below showing a packed crowd in the security line about two hours before the event.

Here’s a look at the crowd a few hours before Trump spoke.

WNCT reported that a group of about 30 people travel around the country attending the rallies, and refer to themselves as “Trump’s Front Row Joes.” One of the group was dressed in an Uncle Sam costume, and road around in a scooter with a giant flag at the rally. WNCT also reported that most of the people at the rally were from out-of-state, but many locals were attending too.

Corinne, an independent media streamer, shared this video of the crowd waiting in line below, which was shot a couple of hours before Trump arrived.

During the event, she shared this video where he said that his events always have the “biggest crowds.” “We break Elvis’s record,” he said.

Hours before the event began, there was a long line waiting to go through security screening, shared Tonya Brown of WPDE.

During Trump’s speech — which was his first since President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address — he also claimed that Biden was more damaging than the “five worst presidents in American history.” He also claimed that Biden “failed to deter Russia’s outrageous invasion of Ukraine,” while also adding that the invasion was a “terrible atrocity that should have never been allowed to happen.”

Trump Has Another Rally Scheduled for Later This Month

Trump has another rally scheduled for later this month. This one will take place on March 26 at 7 p.m. Eastern in Commerce, Georgia, at the Banks County Dragway (also known as the NHRA International Dragway.)

Trump’s first rally of 2022 was in Florence, Arizona in mid-January. Trump held a September rally in Georgia. He also held a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in October 2021, a rally in Alabama in August 2021, and an Ohio rally in June 2021. He also held a rally in Conroe, Texas, in January that was attended by tens of thousands, according to media at the event.

In his August Alabama rally, he was booed after telling the people present to take the vaccines. He replied: “You know what? I believe totally in your freedoms, I do. You have to do what you have to do. But, I recommend take the vaccines, I did it, it’s good. Take the vaccines.”

Trump has not yet announced if he is running in the 2024 presidential election or not. However, he did tell the crowd during his speech that “we may have to run again,” and added “we will take back the White House.”