Trump's campaign reportedly wanted to use facial-recognition tech on supporters at MAGA rallies

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 23 October 2019

President Trump's increasingly frequent campaign-style rallies are actually the central pillar of his re-election campaign. The rallies are "more meticulously produced than the loose and thinly staffed events of four years ago," The Wall Street Journal reports, and "the campaign has turned them into giant, roving field offices that vacuum up personal data from rallygoers, register new voters, and sign up his most enthusiastic supporters as volunteers." And some of that personal data vacuuming is apparently pretty in-your-face.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscael "discussed with political operatives the possibility of using facial recognition at rallies to help analyze reactions from supporters, but was told by at least one company that the technology wasn't reliable yet," the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the conversations. For what it's worth, a campaign spokesman told the Journal that Parscale never pursued that technology.

"Breathe that in for a second," Politico's Playbook team wrote Tuesday evening. "The Trump campaign was considering using facial recognition technology to identify its rallygoers. Republicans have been skeptical of the government using it because many consider it obtrusive and untested. A private entity — the Trump campaign — was considering it. This is a huge scoop that gives us a unique view into the president's campaign." Read more about Trump's rally machine, and why he thinks he thinks he can bring his Cabinet along, at The Wall Street Journal.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.