Some liberal Maine residents are trying to ensure empty seats at a Donald Trump rally in Portland Thursday by registering for tickets online without any intention of attending the event.
Chris Schorr, a Portland resident, is urging Trump opponents to obtain tickets from the campaign’s web site “to keep attendance low, and also to show Trump that his disgusting brand of bigoted and ignorant politics has no place in Portland or in Maine.”
“What’s important is that Mainers are joining together to rebuke Trump’s presence in our state, and make clear to him that he is not welcome here,” Mr. Schorr wrote on the Bangor Daily News’ website.
It’s unclear whether the dirty-tricks effort is taking hold on social media. One Twitter user, “Libertyhound,” tweeted to Mr. Trump’s account that “a lot of liberals are getting tickets and not going… Book heavy #dirtypool.”
Another Twitter user, Matt Soleyn, said “Dumb Democrats in #Maine are getting tickets to a #Trump rally to try to make the venue look empty, not realizing Trump knows this so…what his campaign will do is issue like 60,000 tickets to a venue that fits 10,000 to ensure a filled room.”
The Trump rally is set to take place in the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, which seats about 1,900 people.
Mr. Trump has complained at least twice in the past week about poor attendance at his rallies, blaming local fire marshals for not allowing more supporters into the venues while many ended up waiting outside.
Some big-name Maine Republicans won’t be attending the Maine event, notably Sen. Susan Collins, whose spokeswoman said the senator “remains deeply troubled by his disparaging comments about so many people, including a reporter with disabilities and an American judge of Mexican heritage.”
“Most disturbing are his latest, inconceivable statements criticizing the grieving parents of an Army captain who was killed in action in Iraq,” Collins spokeswoman Annie Clark told the Daily News.
