It wouldn't be a signature Trump speech without a reference to crowd size, right?
President Trump lashed out at The New York Times for estimating that his speech in Tennessee drew a crowd of "about 1,000."
Trump said that the paper was trying to "demean and disparage" him when it published an article that said he "worked his audience of about 1,000 into a frenzy." The president has regularly focused on crowd size as an indicator of his popularity, previously complaining that media reports had underestimated the size of the crowd at his inauguration.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At his rally-style speech, Trump exclaimed, "this is a big crowd of people. This is a lot of people," in addition to bragging about his Electoral College win back in 2016. It's unclear exactly how many people attended the event, which was to boost Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), but photos indicate that the auditorium, with a capacity of 9,700, was not filled.
To the Times, Trump's speech was "raucous," "brash," and "richly embellished." To Trump, it was simply a "rockin'" good time, and claims otherwise must be another wave of "alternative facts."
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
The US-Saudi relationship: too big to fail?Talking Point With the Saudis investing $1 trillion into the US, and Trump granting them ‘major non-Nato ally’ status, for now the two countries need each other
-
Sudoku medium: November 30, 2025The daily medium sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
