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Despite Trump’s Claims, Footage Shows Large Crowd at Harris’s Detroit Rally

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Despite Trump’s Claims, Footage Shows Large Crowd at Harris’s Detroit Rally

Kellen Browning/The New York Times

Former President Donald J. Trump claimed without evidence on Sunday that his rival in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris, had used artificial intelligence to doctor or create an image of a rally that showed a large crowd in Detroit last week.

“She ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!” Mr. Trump wrote on his social networking site, Truth Social.

Three reporters from The New York Times who attended the Michigan rally confirmed that the crowd numbered in the thousands, contrary to Mr. Trump’s assertion that “there was nobody there.” A Times analysis of photos and videos of the event also showed that Mr. Trump’s claims about the size of the crowd were unfounded. Other images and videos from multiple vantage points showed a large audience.

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Graphic by The New York Times; aerial image by NearMap

Crowd size is often a point of comparison between candidates, but Mr. Trump has now given it more intense focus.

A Harris campaign official told The Times by email that the original photo in question was taken by a campaign staff member and was not modified by artificial intelligence.

The crowd was packed tightly inside the airplane hangar. Some attendees waited for Ms. Harris’s arrival on elevated platforms that gave them a higher vantage point, but a majority stood on the floor. From some angles at the back of the hangar where reporters were positioned, it was difficult to gauge how far the crowd extended.

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Rally attendees watched as Air Force Two landed on the tarmac.

Julia Nikhinson/Associated Press

But by moving over to a nearby riser that faced the open door of the hangar, Times reporters could see the size of the crowd more clearly. It stretched beyond the hangar, spilling out onto the tarmac beyond — not far from where Air Force Two came to a stop.

Supporters inside the hangar as Gov. Tim Walz addressed the crowd.

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Brittany Greeson for The New York Times

Attendees crowded near the stage as Ms. Harris spoke.

Jeff Kowalsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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As Ms. Harris spoke, crowds that could not fit inside the hangar viewed her speech on screens along the tarmac.

Jeff Kowalsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Ms. Harris’s X account streamed the rally, with the first few minutes panning over the crowd as Air Force Two arrived. The Harris campaign later posted on X that the image reflected what the campaign said was 15,000 attendees, and it also responded to Trump’s post with a video of the crowds as Air Force Two arrived at the Detroit Metro Airport.

Posts calling into question the authenticity of the crowd photo, and of the size of Ms. Harris’s audience, had already begun to bubble up among far-right Trump supporters before Mr. Trump seized on it. Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post included a screenshot of an X post by Chuck Callesto, calling the crowd image “FAKE.”

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Mr. Callesto is a conservative social media strategist who has frequently posted falsehoods and “Stop the Steal” content about the 2020 election. Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist whom Mr. Trump wanted to hire for a role on his campaign, posted multiple times about the photo, and Joe Hoft, a far-right blogger, wrote a post about it.

Before Ms. Harris’s rally, Mr. Trump had already been focused on comparing crowd sizes at her rallies with those at his own. He said during one of his campaign speeches that Ms. Harris had drawn crowds because she had entertainment and that he did not need to do the same to attract attendees.

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

Finn Gomez/Getty Images


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Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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