I saw Trump’s audience leave the rally early while he was ranting. The performance is over

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In Greenville, it was Trumpmania—without the mania.

Donald Trump’s “Get Out the Vote” rally on the East Carolina University (ECU) campus was a portrait of a fading spectacle. His visit to campus coincided with the start of homecoming week at ECU—in addition to the school’s nearly 30,000 students, thousands of purple-clad alumni came to town to experience some of their former college-era glory.

Independent saw very few of them on Monday.

Instead, the crowd was split roughly 3-1 between the “true believers” typical of the Trump rally audience—graying men over 50, dressed head-to-toe in Trump paraphernalia—and college students, many of whom wore ECU uniforms. purple and white. Several current students confirmed Independent that the university had canceled a number of classes to allow students to fill the stands.

Guess which group left first?

The scene outside the Minges Coliseum was exactly the same as what Kamala Harris described a month earlier on the debate stage in Philadelphia. Less than an hour after the former president spoke, students streamed out of the event. Although the president continued to speak for another 45 minutes after the stream of exits began, many headed for the doors before the first of several videos on stage ended.

One result of this dynamic was some surreal moments.

A huge screen was installed outside the Mingues Center to accommodate people who were unable to enter. This was done because the Trump campaign was expecting a huge crowd, but instead the screen was set up for no one. Instead, about a dozen people who said they didn’t want to go through the security checkpoint milled around in front of him.

Bored college students walked out of the classroom doors into the balmy fall weather as if they were leaving one of their classes, while in the background Trump shouted threats through a loudspeaker about murderous hordes of migrants.

Trump thrives on outrage. But now the outrage factor has disappeared. The shock value decreases. While protesters cheered his threats to kill migrants, they were unfazed by the caustic tone Trump’s third campaign is taking. Even the church’s aging congregation didn’t even glance at the vendors coming from the arena shouting advertisements for “Say No to the Hoe” T-shirts. One elderly woman sweetly asked another saleswoman if she sold them too.

No Trump fan—not even students—would say they were essentially bored. But it was clear that they had come see former president, not necessarily listen to him.

Half a dozen told Independent they left early because they wanted to avoid traffic. Representatives of law enforcement agencies confirmed that there was no overcrowding, which means there was no particular need to deal with traffic jams – the event was not full.

The steady stream of departures was interrupted only momentarily by the official end of the event and Trump himself leaving the stage. By the time the ex-president finished speaking, the ECU students were few and far between the older Trump supporters who were now shuffling out of the building.

If this is how Trump’s latest bid for political power ends, it will be a very fitting TV-style ending. Instead of coming to a sudden conclusion, Trumpism may turn out to be yesterday’s fad.

Trump’s late-game focus on North Carolina and Pennsylvania (especially the former) suggests the former president is less than confident in his position in the key states he will need to win the Electoral College. It’s still a tie, and if Trump wins both states, he’ll still be in a very respectable position.

But facing Kamala Harris, whose youth stands in stark contrast to Trump’s in the final days of the race, the former president faces his greatest test of relevance.