Donald Trump's keynote speech at the Republican National Committee's first-ever midterm convention was meant to showcase Republican enthusiasm ahead of November's elections. Instead, much of the online conversation centred on videos and photographs showing visible empty seats inside Dallas' American Airlines Center, creating a stark contrast with Trump's repeated claim that the venue was 'packed'.
The discrepancy between the president's description of the crowd and widely shared footage quickly became one of the defining talking points of the convention. It was amplified further by reports that several Republican candidates and lawmakers skipped the event altogether, raising fresh questions about turnout and party unity heading into the midterms.
