Trump back to boasting about crowd sizes as he blasts NY Times for saying only 1,000 came to see him
President Donald Trump returned Wednesday to his years-long fixation on the size of his live audiences, erupting on Twitter at a newspaper that he said had underestimated how many people came to hear him speak the night before.
The New York Times reported that his campaign-style Tennessee rally was sparsely attended, drawing only about 1,000 people. The fire marshal's official head-count was 5,500.
The president has vented repeatedly at reporters who err on the side of caution when reporting his crowd sizes, saying they intentionally underestimate his broad appeal.
'The Failing and Corrupt @nytimes estimated the crowd last night at “1000 people,” when in fact it was many times that number – and the arena was rockin’,' the president tweeted.
President Donald Trump spoke to 5,500 people Tuesday night in Nashville, Tennessee – a number barely half of the auditorium's capacity – leading to the latest in a long series of squabbles over how large and loyal his base of support is
Trump blasted The New York Times for reporting that '1,000 people' attended; a spokesman for the Nashville Fire Marshal told DailyMail.com that the real number was about 5,500
'This is the way they demean and disparage. They are very dishonest people who don’t “get” me, and never did!'
The Times reported that Trump 'worked his audience of about 1,000 into a frenzy' by restating his belief that members of the ultra-violent MS-13 drug gang are 'animals' rather than human beings.
Trump has repeatedly branded the Times, whose readership and subscription numbers have reportedly soared during his time in office, as 'failing.'
The Nashville Municipal Auditorium's capacity is 9,600 people when the floor area is made available for standing room as it was Tuesday night, meaning about 57 per cent of the space was taken.
As Trump spoke Tuesday night, large areas were blocked off behind the stage – and some ofthe available upper-level seating bowl areas were left empty
Joseph Pleasant, a public information officer with the Nashville Fire Department, told DailyMail.com on Wednesday: 'Our Fire Marshal’s Office counted around 5,500 people who attended the rally last night.'
Video shot as the president entered suggests that while the upper reaches of the seating bowl included some empty sections, the floor of the arena was mostly full.
A Times spokesperson did not respond to an emailed question about whether the number was a typographical error.