Channeling Sean Spicer, Donald J. Trump took to Truth Social to claim a massive crowd attended America’s 250th anniversary, even though empty rows of seats were seen in video footage. We’re unsure of why Trump didn’t try to claim that eleventy bazillion people attended.
Still, he settled for a 422,000 figure, similar to his brag for the Great American State Fair kickoff speech last month when he called it “packed to the brim” and claimed 45,000 people attended, insisting “everybody stayed right until the end of my speech because they loved hearing about a truly successful America.”
Trump’s Truth Social recap of his July 4th “Salute to America” speech depicted a jam-packed National Mall — 422,000 people at peak, then 150,000 more who supposedly braved the lightning to come back for his remarks. But photos and reporting from the actual event tell a different story: empty bleachers, gaps in the crowd, and people still filing in through security while he spoke. Outlets couldn’t verify either number. The cameras, unlike the president, don’t round up.
“The Crowd at 7:05 in the evening was 422,000 people!” Trump falsely said so, since nothing has been released yet to verify his lie. “All were forced to leave because of the weather, the event was cancelled, and everyone was gone because of lightning.”
read more