'Normally there’s twice as many people': Guests await Trump Chicago speech on the economy

CHICAGO—As former President Donald Trump prepares to take the stage at the Fairmont Chicago hotel for an interview with Bloomberg, members and guests of the Economic Club of Chicago are accustomed to hearing big-name speakers—some drawing twice as many attendees.

Bono, the lead singer of the rock band U2, spoke to the nonprofit group for business and civic leaders in 2018, which one Economic Club of Chicago member, Rhonda, attended with her husband.

Another former president, George W. Bush, spoke to the group in 2006, which Irv Kaage attended and saved photos from.

Last month, Kevin Warren, president of the Chicago Bears football team, spoke to a crowd of about 1,200 people from the Economic Club of Chicago, Kaage said.

Kaage estimated that about 600 people were in attendance this time to see Trump speak. A member of the Economic Club of Chicago told Raw Story that members of the media could not speak with members and guests at the event.

"Smaller. This is much more elite,” said Kaage, who was attending the event as a guest of the Economic Club of Chicago. “They also do an excellent, excellent job ... to be able to go and pull this together in two weeks time is really remarkable, especially because of the security involved with it. It's not the same as if you had George Lucas from Star Wars, who also was a speaker. You just don't have that level of security.”

Representatives of the Economic Club of Chicago did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s questions about attendance for the event.

UPDATE: 5 p.m. CT: James Chase, vice president of Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications, later told Raw Story, that Economic Club of Chicago staff estimated there to be "just under 600 people at the event."

"This is a typical attendance for one of our larger ECC luncheon events," Chase shared with Raw Story via email.

Rhonda, who asked to not be identified by her last name for professional reasons, agreed with Kaage’s estimation that such events usually draw a larger crowd.

“Normally there’s twice as many people,” said Rhonda, who works in tech, and wasn't sure if people were waiting in other areas of the hotel. “We’ve had so many different speakers for so many different reasons, either cultural, historical or business-wise. I think he sort of fits all three in a very unique way.”

Rhonda anticipated that the event would be free of any “odd behavior” given the professional crowd but was curious to see how much the former president would criticize Chicago, as he has done in the past.

“His previous comments about Chicago, I wonder how hard he's gonna lean into them today, so I'm more just here as a matter of order, but I'm more curious than anything,” Rhonda said.

Trump was in Chicago in July to speak to the National Association of Black Journalists, a conversation which turned combative.

Eloise Gerson, a Trump supporter since 2016 who lives in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, attended the event as the guest of an Economic Club of Chicago member.

“He's going to talk about the economy, how the economy is faltering, how the whole country [is] really because with the borders open, we're getting all these illegal aliens here who are getting all the goodies that our citizens are not getting. Free phone, free housing in the best hotels, and money, $2,000 a month in the city of Chicago,” Gerson said.

PolitiFact debunked the claim by podcast host Joe Rogan that illegal immigrants receive $2,000 every time they cross the border.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

An announcement at 10:52 a.m. Central said "we are experiencing a slight delay" for the event, which was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Central.

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This story has been updated with comment from James Chase about attendance for the event.