In his final Pittsburgh rally, Trump laments results of 2020 election, attacks ‘fake news’

Former President Donald Trump rallied in front of about 11,000 people Monday at PPG Paints Arena, repeatedly complaining about the 2020 election, attacking what he calls the “fake news” media, touting celebrity endorsements, and reflecting on what he said will be his last rally in Pittsburgh.

“We have been doing this for nine years. They are wonderful,” Trump said of his rallies. He estimated he has done over 800 since first running for office. “This is the last rally I am going to have here (in Pittsburgh). … This is never going to happen again.”

It was his penultimate rally before Election Day and it started with energy and chanting crowds. Trump said the MAGA movement is strong and the assassination attempt that occurred nearby in Butler County has only made it stronger.

“That brush with death did not stop us, it only made us more determined to finish the job,” he said as the crowd roared.

But about halfway through his 1 hour and 45 minute speech, hundreds of people started leaving. The crowd had noticeably thinned out by the end of his speech, as about a quarter of attendees left.

Afterward, Trump flew to Grand Rapids, Mich., for his final rally before Election Day.

During the speech, which weaved across a range of familiar topics, Trump complained again and again about the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, and said his strong showing in that race was why he was determined to run this cycle.

Trump said he has been waiting four years for a chance to reclaim the White House, and, if he were still president, nothing bad in America and around the world would have happened.

“We had all of those things that wouldn’t have happened today,” he said, claiming that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in a war and that gas prices never would have increased.

He hit on many of his usual talking points, including decrying illegal immigration and boosting tariffs. He attacked his political rivals. He repeatedly railed against the media, calling journalists “fake news” and saying “some are actually good, and some are absolutely terrible.”

He also criticized the press for reporting the polls that show a neck-and-neck race between him Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump gave himself a “96.2% chance of winning” the election tomorrow.

He also made a direct comparison to Harris, who was hosting a rally at Carrie Blast Furnaces just 9 miles away.

The competing rallies ended up having similar crowd sizes.

Trump did not fill the entire arena, as the upper deck was curtained off, but the lower bowl and the floor of PPG Paints was mostly filled, with just a couple hundred empty seats. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 attended Trump’s rally.

The Harris campaign said that 15,000 people attended her rally at Carrie Blast Furnaces, which included performances by musicians Katy Perry, D-Nice and Andra Day.

Trump said that unlike Harris, his rally didn’t need a star because he has great policy on his side.

Later in the rally, he touted multiple celebrity endorsements, including conservative radio personality and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly and comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Trump also brought on stage Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the legendary Pirates outfielder.

“The name Clemente means goodwill and unity. And I believe everything that (Trump) stands for,” Clemente Jr. said.

Trump thanked Clemente and praised Puerto Rico, where the Pirates legend is from. The Trump campaign has been in hot water this week after a comedian at a Trump rally in New York City called Puerto Rico, an “island of garbage.”

Kelly also joined Trump on stage, in a late pitch to try to increase the former president’s appeal to more women voters. Polls have shown that Trump is lagging among women compared to Harris, who would become the nation’s first women president if elected.

The former Fox News host said she was at the rally because she wanted to show Pittsburgh that Trump does surround himself with “strong, intelligent women,” referencing comments that Mt. Lebanon native and billionaire Mark Cuban had made. She said a big reason why she is voting for Trump is because she opposes transgender women playing in women’s sports.

“He will be a protector of women, and that is why I am voting for him,” Kelly said.

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, Trump looked to sow doubt in the results, especially if the race is not announced quickly.

He complained that some states might take 12 days to count their votes, and he implied without evidence that large-scale voter fraud could take place.

“Bad things happen when that happens,” he said. “There is no computer in the world that can’t be broken into.”

Experts across the country, including Pennsylvania’s Republican Secretary of State Al Schmidt, have said widespread voter fraud has not occurred in American elections, and that the final results of Tuesday’s race could take days to count, not hours.