Nicolai Haugsted
Trump calls for media arrests after report claims his rally had empty seats.
Crowd size has followed Donald Trump through American politics for more than a decade, from arguments over his 2017 inauguration to disputes about attendance on the campaign trail.
The subject clearly has not lost its ability to get the president’s attention.
Trump launched a lengthy attack on The New York Times on Monday after accusing the newspaper of falsely claiming that seats had been left empty at his recent Ohio rally. His response went considerably further than disputing the attendance figures: Trump said the Times and other media outlets “should be arrested” for what he described as dishonesty.
A complication soon emerged, however.
The passage that triggered Trump’s anger appears not to have been describing the Ohio event at all. Mediaite reported that the quotation cited by Trump came from a New York Times article discussing his rally in Mobile, Alabama, held before the Ohio appearance.
Trump wants the media arrested over crowd coverage
Trump first addressed the dispute in a Truth Social post accompanied by footage showing people standing in a line.
“The Ohio Arena was already full to the brim — And yet these people were still trying to get in,” Trump wrote.
“The New York Times said, ‘There were empty seats’ when, in fact, there were none, and thousands of people had to be turned away.”
His next sentence escalated the complaint beyond the familiar political argument over rally attendance.
“The New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our Country,” Trump wrote.
No evidence was provided in the post establishing a criminal offense by the newspaper or the other unnamed outlets.
One rally appears to have become another
Trump specifically objected to a description saying that “the place was not full” and that some upper sections were “almost completely empty.”
His post attributed those words to coverage of his Ohio rally.
Mediaite reported that the passage actually appeared in a New York Times story about Trump’s Friday rally in Mobile, Alabama. Trump appeared the following day at Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio.
The distinction matters because Trump built much of his rebuttal around what he said had happened at the Ohio venue.
Coverage from The Guardian separately reported that certain sections of the Butler High School gym in Ohio were empty, while Trump maintained that thousands of supporters had been unable to get inside.
‘I never have empty seats’
One post was apparently not enough to settle the matter.
Trump followed his initial message with a much longer defense of attendance at his events, insisting the Ohio rally had been completely full.
“The Arena was totally MAXED OUT, including all upper sections,” he wrote.
Trump also offered an explanation for why photographs or video might appear to show available seats at his rallies.
“What does happen at all of my SOLD OUT Rallies, is that the people in the upper sections tend to migrate down to the Main Floor — The ‘migration’ process always happens!”
Then came perhaps his broadest claim.
“I never have empty seats — Never have, and never will!”
Such an absolute statement is difficult to square with documented reporting from Trump events where empty seating has been visible, including coverage of the recent Ohio appearance.
Trump says he has brought in the cameras
Media coverage of his crowds has apparently become important enough for Trump to introduce his own method of documenting attendance.
“Because of their dishonesty, I have cinematographers shooting the various Arenas where I speak,” he wrote.
Trump insisted that attendance at events supporting Republican candidates was stronger than ever and declared that his rallies were “HOTTER” than before.
“There are no empty seats, there haven’t been for years, and there never will be,” he added.
Trump also accused television networks of deliberately refusing to show the size of his crowds.
Bernie Sanders gets dragged into the argument
The president widened his complaint by contrasting his own media coverage with that received by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“When Bernie Sanders has 500 to 1,000 people, they make it sound like it’s the biggest event that ever took place,” Trump wrote.
“When PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP has 50,000 people, they make it sound like nobody showed up!”
Trump did not identify a specific 50,000-person event in that post, nor did he provide evidence for the comparison.
His Ohio appearance took place at Butler High School rather than an arena capable of accommodating anything close to 50,000 people.
