President Donald Trump hosted a rally in Rio Rancho, New Mexico today for his 2020 campaign. The venue was packed and thousands more had to stay outside in the overflow area to watch the rally on a large screen. The venue had a maximum capacity of 7,500, and so many people showed up that the police had to shut down the arena’s parking lots. Read on to learn more and see crowd photos from tonight’s rally.

The 7,500-Capacity Venue Was Packed & the City Said They Expected 12 to 15,000 Total

Tonight’s rally in Rio Rancho was held at the Santa Ana Star Center at 3001 Civic Center Circle on September 16, 2019. The Santa Ana Star Center is a multi-purpose arena with a capacity of 7,500 for concerts and events like the rally Trump hosted. The venue was packed and thousands more had to stay outside in the overflow crowd to watch the rally on a large screen. Heavy has reached out to the local police department for an official crowd size estimate. The city told local news KRQE earlier in the day that they were expecting 12,000 to 15,000 total.

So many people were at the rally that they showed up hours ahead of time, with the lines snaking around the building. The photos below were shared on Twitter by the Rio Rancho Police Department several hours before the rally began.

The line wrapped around the building to get into the arena wrapped around the building.

The line for the @POTUS rally has wrapped around toward the north side of the building. pic.twitter.com/qKIuJqSNuj — Chris McKee (@ChrisMcKeeTV) September 16, 2019

At one point, police officers had to close the parking lot before the rally began because so many people had shown up.

The crowd to get inside was huge.

Some people even showed up 13 hours before the event began.

Hundreds of people are outside the Santa Ana Star Center waiting for the President Trump rally. People started lining up for the rally around 6am. The rally begins later tonight. pic.twitter.com/gAUuQZwy2q — Chris McKee (@ChrisMcKeeTV) September 16, 2019

Before 6:00 AM in Rio Rancho outside Albuquerque, and a mile-long line of traffic headed to @realDonaldTrump #KeepAmericaGreat rally tonight. Gonna be an amazing night in New Mexico, which the President aims to put in the win column in 2020. pic.twitter.com/RDiAe8qCDq — Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) September 16, 2019

Trump told the crowd that he didn’t want to share some his best campaign lines too early. He said the “Pocahantas thing” was shared too early, as an example, citing Elizabeth Warren’s heritage.

The City of Rio Rancho told local news KRQE that they expected 12,000 to 15,000 people total tonight.

It’s getting harder to upload photos and video out here as more people get to the @POTUS rally in Rio Rancho. City of Rio Rancho expects 12 to 15 thousand for the rally. So far, a handful of protestors are across the street from the lines to get in. — Chris McKee (@ChrisMcKeeTV) September 16, 2019

Thousands More Gathered Outside in the Overflow Area

Big cheers from the crowd after @POTUS said he supports people’s rights to have a gun. Just this past legislative session, state lawmakers passed a bill that would require background checks on private gun sales @krqe pic.twitter.com/jYwV71PNF1 — Rachel Knapp (@RachelKnappNews) September 17, 2019

A huge crowd of people was gathered outside in the overflow area because the venue was full, and you can see them in the video above and in the photo below.

This next video shows the size of the overflow crowd.

This is the overflow crowd watching @realDonaldTrump’s speech on the big screen outside. Rally in Rio Rancho, NM is crazy! pic.twitter.com/qrCNfwvjMi — Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) September 17, 2019

Trump spent part of the rally addressing his Democratic opponents and Democrats in general.

.@POTUS: "We try to get the biggest arena we can get, but they're never big enough." — Chris McKee (@ChrisMcKeeTV) September 17, 2019

“The radical left Democrats want to demolish everything we gave,” Trump told the crowd. He said they want to indoctrinate students with left-wing ideology and confiscate guns. (Note: Not every Democratic candidate wants to confiscate guns, but Beto O’Rourke did say he wants to confiscate assault rifles during a recent Democratic debate.)

Waiting to get in the President Trump rally, longest line I have ever waited in, not seen one argument, fight, no ugliness. I did see a crowd of 2 protesters in the dedicated area. Look in the picture to the right of the tree above the blue tent holding the white sign pic.twitter.com/A3APOfU5ru — Randy Flowers (@hunter88310) September 16, 2019

Trump then talked about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and people calling for his impeachment. Trump spoke about how he in turn called for the resignation of everyone at The New York Times who wrote about Kavanaugh. He read his tweet about the call for resignations aloud to the crowd. (Read more about that “Old Grey Lady” tweet here.)

“Look at all the cards we’ve been dealt,” he said. “Lucky we won the election in 2016.”

He spoke about the Mueller report, repeating his popular line about how the report didn’t find any collusion.

“This crazy Mueller report comes out… some (on the report) work for Hillary Clinton,” he told the crowd. “They found nothing after two years. They spent $40 million… They found nothing… To stop the far left’s…destruction, you must vote Republican.”

Trump told the crowd that what they’ve achieved during his administration was far more than anyone had expected.

He later talked about negative media coverage and quipped: “I’m President and they’re not.” When people complain about not being treated right by the press, he said he would just sit back and say: “Well, we’re in the Oval Office and they’re not.”

.@POTUS has now be speaking four about an hour and a half. Came out to stage at 7:25p.m. — Chris McKee (@ChrisMcKeeTV) September 17, 2019

Trump spoke for about 90 minutes tonight.

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