DeSantis Lies About LA Dodgers’ Pride Night Turnout, Claims It Was ‘Virtually Empty’

Florida GOP Gov. and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis falsely claimed on Saturday that a group of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters caused the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium to be “virtually empty” during the team’s Friday night Pride event.

Gov. Ron DeSantis tweets false claim about a “virtually empty” Dodgers stadium. (Twitter Screenshot)

In a June 17 tweet, DeSantis wrote, “Good on the thousands who showed up at Dodger Stadium to protest this anti-Catholic hate group. The virtually empty stadium for the game itself was a powerful image – Americans are fed up with the nonsense and are fighting back.”

Right-wingers opposed the event because the team used the occasion to honor the drag nun activist group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for their community activism. Leading up to the team’s 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night, the Dodgers disinvited and then re-invited the activist group because some religious conservatives found them to be offensive to Christianity and Catholicism.

While the satirical group was honored at Dodgers stadium on Friday, religious groups protested outside the stadium and briefly shut down the main entrance, the Los Angeles Times reported.

DeSantis’ post linked to a New York Post article about the protests which included several photos appearing to show the stadium’s empty seats.

In reality, Friday’s game surpassed the team’s average attendance of 47,800 people, according to Forbes. “Our paid attendance on Friday night was 49,074,” Joe Jareck, senior director of public relations for the Dodgers, told Insider.

Twitter attached an alert to DeSantis’ deceptive tweet which read: “The photo was taken an hour before the opening pitch. The Dodgers reported attendance for June 16 was 49,074.” The number was based on the number of tickets sold rather than the unknown number of people who passed through the stadium’s turnstiles.

Twitter’s warning to readers about DeSantis’ deceptive tweet. (Twitter Screenshot)

Several prominent conservatives repeated DeSantis’ lie, circulating photos and videos reportedly taken before the opening pitch, of a near-empty stadium.

Right-wing watchdog group Meidas Touch pointed out that the teams’ Pride Night sales were higher than the stadium’s average ticket sales of 47,800 and shared photos of the nearly full stadium.

Republicans are lying and saying Dodgers Stadium was “empty” last night during Pride Night.

Their evidence? Videos and photos taken before the game.

In reality, the game was sold out and photos and videos taken during the game show a packed house. Data shows that the Dodgers… pic.twitter.com/74asegnqqf

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 17, 2023

"The virtually empty stadium for the game itself was a powerful image."
– Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), commenting on Dodger Stadium's Pride Night (June 16, 2023)

Yep. So empty, you could hear the wave crashing. 🤣pic.twitter.com/SlmnIgUtGC

— Donald R. Koelper (@Donald_from_HI) June 18, 2023

The LA Dodgers garner a packed stadium for yesterday’s game and annual LGBTQIA+ Pride Night. 🌈 pic.twitter.com/2y4cvDro5E

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 18, 2023