Begging people to attend....

Trump is begging people to attend his Arizona rally. Kamala Harris didn't have to do that

Opinion by Elvia Díaz

Donald Trump’s bizarre crowd-size contest is coming back to bite him, because he now must fill the Glendale arena to rival Kamala Harris’ recent packed rally there.

Trump and his Arizona pals are clearly sweating it out, airing radio spots and blanketing social media with ads urging people to join Trump on Friday.

“Be part of the HISTORIC rally,” read a Trump ad that rolled on X, formerly Twitter, feeds. “Get your tickets before they’re gone.”

Meanwhile, the group organizing the rally ran ads on local sports radio.

Harris didn't advertise her rally. Why is Trump?

Trump no doubt wants to upstage Harris when he speaks on Friday at Desert Diamond Arena.

But whatever the crowd size, the former president already lost the contest because he’s practically begging people to go see him — something Harris didn’t have to do.

There were no radio spots, no social media ads — nothing of that sort, as far I could tell — and yet more than 15,000 people showed up to cheer Harris.

What will Trump do if there are empty seats? Will he not speak at all or use artificial intelligence to give the illusion of a packed arena — something he falsely accused Harris of doing?

Seriously, what’s up with Trump’s obsession about crowd sizes? Even former President Barack Obama joked about it during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Forget about the substance of the speech or what Trump would do for the nation should he get elected. None of that beats his insatiable appetite for adulation.

Trump just can’t stop talking about that — no matter the question, the venue or environment.

Some Spanish-speaking media aren't allowed

But wait — what’s this? — not everyone is welcome at Trump’s rally.

Some Spanish-speaking journalists had requested to cover it but were summarily denied. Among them are a journalist from LA ONDA 1190 AM and Maritza L. Félix, the director of Conecta Arizona, a popular news service.

“We aim to offer balanced coverage of this consequential presidential election,” Félix said. “But limiting access to Latino journalists thwarts our ability to do so. It’s ironic to pursue the Latino vote and not give Latino journalists the fair opportunity to inform the community fairly and accurately.”

My media rally credential was quickly approved, so I have no clue what criteria was used to denied access to Spanish-language journalists.

Perhaps Trump has already given up on the Hispanic vote? Evidently, since all he obsesses over is the size of his rally crowd.