Posted on 09/24/2015 10:30:04 PM PDT by Vision Thing
Donald Trump is not happy with the Associated Press photographer who took a picture showing a significant number of empty chairs at a South Carolina event on Wednesday so unhappy he called him a f***ing thief, according to the Daily Mail.
Trumps remarks about wire photographer Mic Smith follow a rough couple of days for his relationship with the press.
On Wednesday, he said he would no longer appear on Fox News, which responded that Trump "doesnt seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country. Later, he agreed to a meeting with Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to discuss differences of opinion, the network said in a statement.
On Thursday, he railed against New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin and POLITICO on Twitter, calling Martin "dishonest" and POLITICO "really dishonest." (Martin, a former POLITICO reporter, mocked pro-Trump "chair truthers" in tweets of his own.)
But it was Smith, apparently, who infuriated Trump the most.
Tell them they're a fraud, whoever took it. I just got killed on that thing, and it was just really unfair. It's goddamn unfair, he told The Daily Mail.
Trump was speaking at an event hosted by the Greater Charleston Business Alliance and the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce in Charleston, S.C.
The chairs were only empty, he explained, because the crowd had surged forward to surround him.
I was speaking from the podium. Everybody was wrapped around the podium. If they hadn't done that, there wouldn't have been an empty seat, he told the Daily Mail. 'I've never made a speech where there were so many people wrapped around the podium in the front. That's what happened.
To the billionaires credit, a different photo from Smith, who was not available for comment, does show a crowd near the podium. But it doesn't show the back of the room.
Photos from other outlets and reporters' tweets, meanwhile, tell a consistent tale of empty seats. According to Martin's story in the Times, "about a third of the seats were unfilled." MSNBC described the venue as "a half-full room of white people."
Trump's other South Carolina event, a jam-packed town hall hosted by Sen. Tim Scott, "sold out" in just three weeks, a Scott aide told POLITICO.
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We are confident that the description of crowd size is accurate," AP spokesman Paul Colford said in an email.
Polutico? lol!
The most connected man in washington was bashing Trump hard on the Sean Hannity radio show for the empty chairs. Sean said in Trump’s defense that it was in the afternoon. Jamie Dupree interuppted and said if you draw, you draw. Now we find out that the chairs were only empty because people were so excited they left their seats.
Yeah, I don't see the threat in this for him to say, "I just got killed on that thing."
You say that Trump is now making crowd size a big issue and it could spiral against him. We'll see. If anything, it just may make Team Trump more disciplined in making sure this optic doesn't repeat itself.
If, as you say correctly, this a common fraud played by the mainstream media, then the last thing he needs to be doing is “chilling”. He needs to expose it, fight it, draw attention to it, and be righteously angry about it. A habit of being chill about it has led to a situation where the perpetrators can get away with it, at will.
Exactly. Look at Bush. He chilled out. Bush people would defend him by saying the history books will tell the real story. No, they won’t. The books will say we should have never gone into Iraq and Bush destabilized the area and was a failed president.
Yeah, Trump is effectively using up all the media oxygen for himself and suffocating everyone else, all without spending a dime on media.
The media is the enemy of conservatives.
That is crystal clear to Trump and he’s determined to repel any attack from them, by exposing their tactics and exploding in their faces... pronto.
Can’t say I blame him.
He will do the country a great service if he can “cut off the balls” of all the propaganda organs.
Go Trump!
Yes, his counterpunches can be devastating, such as:
- the "Rosie O'Donnell" counterpunch against maggot kelly's attack.
- the "If someone made a nasty comment about me to the president, would he come to my rescue?" counterpunch to the media's attempt to smear him with the birther/anti-muslim questioner.
Yeah, it this was true that the AP photographer took advantage of the crowd moving to the podium, leaving empty seats behind, that’s pretty low.
I think Sarah has had a heart-to-heart with Trump about the lamestream media and he is outing each and every one of them. They have gotten away with this crap for far too long. Now, having said that - I’m not sure if Trump used that kind of language or not - I hope he didn’t, because even though I know people talk like that - I don’t want to hear it from my candidate. I think he needs to get someone on his staff who is an expert at putting out releases for him, and stop rolling in the mud with each and every person who disses him. Yes, I know he taking a lot of “incoming,” and fights back, but, for pete’s sake, why is he so obsessed with the polls and the size of the crowds? He should be focusing on the issues and acting more presidential - he has the look - okay - that’s all I’m going to say - and yes, I’m still a supporter, but, not sure for how long if this crap keeps revving up. It’s rather embarrassing actually.
The most connected man in Washington is a lefty through and through. I don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. The most connected leftist for sure.
If Trump can calm down a bit he could realize truth is a stronger thing than he might think.
Even some of these reports of his “lashing out” etc. might be overdone. All the nuance of hyperbole can be simply lost in print.
I literally loathe Jamie Dupree - I can tell from listening to him that he is a RINO - or maybe even a DEM - who knows? He sure doesn’t talk like a conservative to me. Trump needs to hire his own photographer to dispute the media lies.
As a WWE star emeritus he actually DID “roll in mud” at one time in his life.
Moving on from that schtick may not happen overnight.
Trump may be a bit thin skinned, but there is an upside to that too. We can see that what is under that skin is not fake or unreal. It may be mistaken in places, it could use mellowing, but phony it is not.
He probably already does have one, and it would be surprising if nobody in the audience does not have at least a good cellphone camera.
I hope so.
They are trying the full Sarah Palin on him.
Yes, if Trump were smart, he’d tweet out a request to anyone who may have been sitting in those seats before leaving them empty to go up to the podium.
As you imply, at least some of them may have been taking pictures with their mobile phones. They could forward the pics to him or post them to instagram or reply to his tweet with a twitpic of the filled seats.
Journalists do not realize with how much disdain they are held. Statements like this one are going to be brought back to them.
Who cares about a stupid slang word?! God’s name being bounced around like some sort of pejorative is what should never be tolerated!
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