Politics - News Analysis
The Numbers Are In For Trump’s El Paso Rally and He Completely Lied About How Many Attended
Throughout the day on Monday, Donald Trump touted the size of the crowd that would attend his rally in El Paso.
Before he landed in El Paso, Trump brought attention to the size of the line waiting for his rally compared to a dueling rally headed by Beto O’Rourke.
“We have a line that is very long already. I mean, you see what’s going on,” Trump said at an event with sheriffs. “And I understand our competition’s got a line, too, but it’s a tiny, little line.”
When his rally got underway, the president said that “69,000 signed up to be here. The arena holds about 8,000.”
Trump thanked the fire department for getting 10,000 people in the El Paso County Coliseum, before noting the crowd that gathered outside for his rally.
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“Tens of thousands of people are watching the screens outside,” Trump said.
In a 1-minute stretch, Trump says 69,000 people RSVP’d to be at his rally in El Paso tonight. Then he says the arena holds 8k, but the fire department got 10k in. Then he says "tens of thousands of people" are watching screens outside. Then he says says he's got 30,000 ppl here.
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) February 12, 2019
However, a fire department spokesman said 6,500 people were inside the venue and denied any special accommodations were made.
El Paso Fire Department just told us that Trump's statement about them allowing 10,000 people inside is incorrect. Spokesman says coliseum holds 6,500 and that is how many were allowed in building. #TrumpElPaso
— Zahira Torres (@zahiratorres) February 12, 2019
During the rally Trump claimed that the media would not acknowledge the disparity between his rally and Beto O’Rourke’s counter-rally.
“They will say Beto O’Rourke – that’s his last name, right, O’Rourke? – had a wonderful rally of about 15 people,” he said.
Trump predictably makes up stuff on the size of the crowd, saying there are 10,000 inside (can't fit more than 7,000) and there are tens of thousands outside watching on screens (maybe a few hundred.)
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) February 12, 2019
Bloomberg News reported that O’Rourke’s rally drew between 10,000 and 15,000 people.
Twitter reacted:
For those wanting to compare official estimates of crowd sizes:
Donald Trump: 10,500 total
Beto O’Rourke: 10-15,000 total pic.twitter.com/04tVUxIfc2
— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) February 12, 2019
I bet @realDonaldTrump was FURIOUS when he learned that the crowd at his pro-wall rally in El Paso was HALF THE SIZE of the crowd at @BetoORourke’s anti-wall rally.
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) February 12, 2019
Trump allies are clearly preoccupied with the size of Beto’s crowd and they’re sending a lot of clearly false tweets about it. pic.twitter.com/EUdIf6152m
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) February 12, 2019
Trump predictably makes up stuff on the size of the crowd, saying there are 10,000 inside (can't fit more than 7,000) and there are tens of thousands outside watching on screens (maybe a few hundred.)
— Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) February 12, 2019
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