Fact Check: Does the video show empty seats at JD Vance’s TPUSA event?

ATHENS, GEORGIA: A video has been going viral on social media platforms, claiming to show empty seats while Vice President JD Vance was speaking during a Turning Point USA event at a university in Athens, Georgia. The video has sparked mixed reactions among internet users, with many believing it to be true, while others have called it fake. Let us analyse and fact-check the video.

Claim: Video shows empty seats while JD Vance was speaking 

The video surfaced this month, claiming to show an event by TPUSA, a conservative non-profit organisation co-founded by late activist Charlie Kirk. The video shows empty seats while the vice president speaks. 

The video first appeared to be shared by MS NOW reporter Jake Traylor, in an X (formerly Twitter) post that read, “Turning Point USA seems to have misestimated crowd size for Vance. Akins Ford Arena less than 25% filled for the vice president.”

The clip has been shared on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, prompting users to mock Vance for the apparent low turnout of the event, while others disbelieved its authenticity.

Fact Check: The video is authentic 

The video is indeed authentic, and there are no signs of misleading editing or use of artificial intelligence. Other evidence, such as videos, photos, and reporting from the event, confirmed that the video showed the crowd size while Vance was onstage. 

Even MS NOW confirmed that Traylor recorded the video himself.

The event was part of a tour by the conservative organisation that took place on April 14, on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia. 

Reporting from the Red & Black, University of Georgia's nonprofit, student-led newspaper, and The Associated Press indicated the crowd filled just about a third of the available seating in the arena, which has a capacity of 8,000 people.

JD Vance disagrees with Pope Leo XIV's stance on war

During the event, the vice president specifically cited Pope Leo XIV’s recent assertion that "God is never on the side of those who wield the sword." 

Vance countered this by citing the liberation of Nazi-occupied France and the Holocaust camps, arguing that just war theory has a 1,000-year tradition that cannot be ignored.

The exchange highlights a deepening rift between the White House and the Vatican over the moral boundaries of military force and border security.

The event was also marked by a heated confrontation with a heckler who accused the administration of supporting "genocide" in Gaza.