People Are Buying Tickets to Trump’s Maine Rally Just to Leave Seats Empty

Photo via AP

Donald Trump is making another stop in Maine Thursday afternoon, as he’s done twice before on the campaign trail. After all, Maine’s mercurial governor, Paul LePage, took a break from blaming the state’s opioid epidemic on “guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, [and] Shifty” and endorsed the Republican presidential nominee in February.

But when Trump takes the podium at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland this afternoon, joined by LePage, he may find the audience a bit thinner than usual.

Mainers are reportedly buying tickets to the 3 p.m. rally with no intention of attending, according to the Bangor Daily News. Of course, there are almost always spillover areas for events like these, and Trump’s campaign will likely fill in empty seats with little trouble.

But hey, it’s the thought that counts.

Hundreds are expected to protest Thursday’s event, with police already on high alert after a Norwegian tourist allegedly made email and Twitter threats claiming he and others would kill officers at the Portland Police Department station.