The crowd packing a Pennsylvania arena for Donald Trump’s rally Saturday was an “all-time” record breaker, and people were lined up outside hoping to get in — to hear the president tell it. But in fact there were several empty seats at Harrisburg’s Farm Show Arena, tweeted a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jonathan Tamari, Washington correspondent for the Inquirer, posted photos of unfilled seats high in the arena, and spotted empty spots on the floor as well. “There are rows of empty seats here,” he noted, adding that the crowd was not at capacity.
The crowd was “big and excited” at the 7,000-seat venue, according to Tamari, so why the lie? “POTUS could easily — and truthfully — talk about that but has to claim more,” Tamari tweeted.
The irony could hardly be missed at a rally where Trump skipped the White House Correspondents Dinner to bash “fake news” and the lies he claims are touted by the U.S. press.
Trump was incensed after the press reported larger inaugural crowds for Barack Obama, a situation clearly backed up by photos.
Trump called Harrisburg “just rotting ... a war zone” during his presidential campaign, but on his 100th day as president, far from the press, it was a “wonderful, beautiful place,” he noted at the rally.
A Trump opposition rally was held across the street hours before the president spoke. Harrisburg’s Democratic mayor Eric Papenfuse said the rally “is to send a message to the president that he needs to be more moderate and more inclusive,” reported the Washington Post. “I hope he will look around and understand that he needs to do more than rally his supporters. He needs to listen to and speak with those who didn’t vote for him.”
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