The sizable support Vice President Kamala Harris has generated at her rallies has rattled former President Donald J. Trump, who has emphasized, and frequently exaggerated, his crowd sizes for years. He has said, often repeating falsehoods, that his crowds are much larger than Ms. Harris’s, and the Harris campaign has returned with their own jabs about the enthusiasm of Trump rallygoers.

We attended six rallies — every campaign event that the candidates held within a three-week period in August — across six states, taking photographs and capturing video and 360-degree footage, to analyze which claims on crowd sizes hold weight. The analysis found that, despite Mr. Trump’s claims, both candidates draw comparably big audiences.

On a Friday night, Mr. Trump drew 11,500 people to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. Here’s what it looked like:

On a Tuesday night during the weeklong Democratic National Convention in late August, Ms. Harris drew 12,800 to a campaign event at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis. Here’s a scene from that rally:

The four other campaign events that The Times attended were similarly packed, with audience members generally filling up the space designated for the event. The rallies took place at venues with maximum capacities ranging from 6,800 to 19,300 people, though in some cases sections of seating were cordoned off, and additional seating or standing-only areas were added.

For each of the six events, The Times counted the number of people visible in footage taken just after each candidate began their speech, also accounting for people in dimly lit and obscured areas. This number does not represent the people that may have left early, before the footage was captured, or arrived late.

Experts say that crowd sizes at rallies do not have a direct relationship to winning or losing an election. For one, event organizers may strategically choose venues with a small capacity, like college campus buildings where only a few hundred can attend. The day of the week and time of day can also affect the size of the crowd and when people decide to arrive or leave.

Still, crowd sizes have been a sensitive subject for Mr. Trump throughout his political career, his fixation intensifying as of late as enthusiasm has ballooned for the new Democratic ticket. Mr. Trump falsely claimed that photographs of the crowds at Ms. Harris’s events are doctored using A.I.

In response, the Harris campaign posted a video compilation of moments during Mr. Trump’s rallies in which audience members are seen yawning, and also wrote in a separate post on Truth Social that members of Mr. Trump’s audience left the event in Pennsylvania early, “leaving even more empty seats.”

The Times found that people did leave early from two of three of Mr. Trump’s events, including while he was delivering his speech.

Photographs taken over the course of Mr. Trump’s rallies show where people left their seats. Below is a series of photographs from his Aug. 17 rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., taken at 13 minutes and just over 1 hour into his speech.

And this shows where seats emptied out an hour into Mr. Trump’s speech at the Aug. 23 rally in Glendale, Ariz.

The longer duration of a Trump event compared with a Harris one may have contributed to a greater number of early exits. Trump rallygoers typically arrived earlier in the day, and opening speeches tended to start earlier and last longer. Of the six rallies The Times attended, Mr. Trump spoke for four times as long as Ms. Harris.

Despite the limited connection between crowd size and election outcomes, the very public sparring between the two campaigns over the metric indicates that it at the very least carries some political significance.

Large, enthusiastic crowds can also help energize the candidate themselves as they give their speech, said Todd Belt, the director of the Political Management program at George Washington University. It can also contribute to a “bandwagon effect,” showing those who aren’t there in person that the enthusiasm for a candidate is real.

“Even though I do believe these kinds of events don’t change people’s minds, what it does is it makes people feel like you’re not alone,” said Betsy Reiser, 62, an attendee at a rally for Harris in Savannah, Ga. “It is very important to feel like you belong.”

Prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz announced his departure from the Democratic Party, citing several “anti-Jewish” lawmakers that make up the ranks of the party and the recent Democratic National Convention in which Vice President Kamala Harris became the party’s presidential nominee. 

Speaking with radio host Zev Brenner on “Talkline with Zev Brenner,” Dershowitz cited the DNC, which he said gave legitimacy to anti-Israel speakers, and anti-Israel protesters outside the gathering. 

“It was the most anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist convention I’ve experienced,” he said. “I was disgusted at the Democratic National Convention. Absolutely disgusted.”

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“I am no longer a Democrat. I am an Independent,” he added, noting that he wouldn’t reveal whom he was voting for president until possibly after Nov. 1. “I want to see how they deal with Iran. I want to encourage the current administration to support Israel.”

The Harvard Law professor emeritus said his departure from the party was a long time coming and that he gradually resigned over time. 

“Alot of things pushed me in that direction,” he said. Dershowitz noted Harris’ failure to preside over a joint session of Congress during an address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a big role in his decision. 

Some Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s speech as a form of protest. 

NETANYAHU MOURNS DEATHS OF SIX HOSTAGES RECOVERED IN GAZA, VOWS TO ‘SETTLE ACCOUNTS’ WITH HAMAS

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. ((Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images))

Ultimately, it was the convention that was held in Chicago last month that pushed him over the edge, he said. 

He named Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, who he said were anti-Israel, and Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been accused of antisemitism in the past.

In addition, there were anti-Israel protesters outside the gathering who called for the destruction of Israel, he said. 

“That’s not my party,” Dershowitz said. 

The Democratic Party has seen a sharp split within its ranks following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Some members of the party have refused to condemn the terror group and have blamed Netanyahu for Israel’s military response. 

Many Democrats have called for a ceasefire and urged Israel to use restraint while neglecting to hold Hamas and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group based in Lebanon, in Israel’s north, to the same standard. 

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears announced her bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025, telling Fox News that she wants to build on her fellow Republican’s record of revitalizing the Old Dominion’s economy.

Earle-Sears, if successful in the primary, will potentially face Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., if the similarly prominent Virginian wins the Democratic primary.

“We really have to win, because the other side is wanting to do all kinds of machinations and so many ‘gotcha’ stuff that’s not going to help propel Virginia forward,” Earle-Sears said on Friday.

Sears said that Youngkin’s single term has laid a “great foundation” for a like-minded successor.

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“We’ve got to keep building on that. We have had corporate headquarters that have moved here — even from overseas. We have grown businesses here. We have been an incubator for business,” Earle-Sears said on “Fox & Friends.”

“It’s all about business, because that’s where the money comes from, so that we can have the beautiful things we like; the quality of life, the schools, the roads, the bridges, all of that.”

Speaking with Fox News Digital, a Youngkin spokesman similarly praised Earle-Sears and called her a “steadfast partner” over the past four years.

“Governor Youngkin is squarely focused on helping Republicans win in Virginia in 2024, because this election is about strength versus weakness — a strong economy, a secure border and strong America,” Justin Discigil said Friday.

FORMER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR PRAISES GLENN YOUNGKIN

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers the VCU commencement address in Richmond, Virginia, May 11, 2024. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images) (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“The 2025 election will be about continuing the extraordinary results from commonsense policies that are making Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family versus returning to the failed extremism of the left-progressive agenda.”

Earle-Sears, who emigrated from Jamaica as a youth, would be the first Black woman to hold such an office in Richmond.

She served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was previously a state legislator from Virginia Beach. Earle-Sears noted Friday that her initial win there had been a major upset in a majority-Democratic district.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, center, signs executive orders in the Governor’s conference room as Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, left, Suzanne Youngkin, second from left, Attorney General Jason Miyares, second from right, and Secretary of the Commonwealth, Kay Cole James, right, look on at the Capitol Saturday Jan. 15, 2022, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

“I only had three months to run and no money,” she said.

“When you have the right ideas, and when you know the voters have given you a mandate to run, to move forward, then you’ve just got to press forward,” she said on Fox News Channel.

“You have hostile legislators who want to stop you [in] every way because they’re thinking you’re going to get a win — but the win is for the people.”