Trump Arena Math: Where 9=27

Trump Supporters jeering the media, at Trump's request.         Photo credit: Jarell Wade

  Donald Trump came to Oklahoma, today. His much publicized event has been anticipated for the past week. But the 11,000 capacity arena was set up  to handle just 9,000 attendees.
  Nothing was on time. The Secret Service screening at the entry was very cumbersome and folks had to wait even longer when they finally did get to a seat.
  The Trump aircraft landed at the Tulsa Intl. about 40 minutes late and Trump took to the stage 70 minutes past the scheduled start time.
He immediately made claims that the comfortably full 8k venue "had 20k in attendance and 7k more were turned away".
  But in the next few sentences his account changed to 15k in attendance with 5k turned away. Observers indicate that no one was turned away and  there were hundreds of open seats scattered in the upper level. At one point Trump taunted the press corp camera crews to pan the arena and show the audience. He knew it could not be done, nor would an independent press take any orders from a politician. But Trump is lucky that they did not. A good slow pan would have revealed every scattered empty seat and empty row.

No politician with any sense will turn away anyone, unless the fire marshall or venue demands it.

An Orchestrated Fantasy.

  Here's why I have a real problem with Donald Trump magically tripling his account of the turnout at his Tulsa event.  Yeah, it's just credibility. And what does credibility have to do with it? I mean, with all those incredible claims and promises. I really ought to be spinning my head, shouldn't I? And here I am quibbling about reality. and integrity.
  The next 4 years are important to our nation's survival, and a man who makes dazzling promises, with no political resume' needs to be gauged by something. All we have right now is his word.
  His lying claims of today tell me what to think of his claims for the next 4 years. The Mabee Center markets it's facility as being very capable of handling the masses. They have no incentive to underestimate their capacity.  No politician with any sense will turn away anyone, unless the fire marshall or venue demands it.

It is an orchestrated fantasy, and that tells me what to expect from all his other grand claims for a Trump Administration

  In 2012, Rick Santorum busted out of the 3000 seat setup, so his folks simply had the venue raise the curtains along the sides so that folks could at least have a lousy seat. Trump's folks did not need to do that because they never filled up the venue to capacity.
  As I type this report, Donald trump is repeating his lies (the 20k version, instead of the 27k version) to Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. It is not a mistake. It is an orchestrated fantasy, and that tells me what to expect from all his other grand claims for a Trump Administration. An Orchestrated Fantasy.
Integrity Matters.

Updated January 21, 11:30am
Keaton Fox of OKC Fox 25 news, reports that the Mabee Center released an official count of 8937 for the event attendance. the doors were then locked and some were refused entry.


Update: January 26, 10am:
Trump is now telling national media that he "filled a stadium in Tulsa".
I guess we have to give Trump the Clinton mantel of parsing words to create essential lies and misconceptions for deliberate propaganda. And he now refers to the event as an "Oral Roberts University" rally, so that he can further the notion that Evangelicals like him more than Cruz. The reality is that The Mabee Foundation which established the Mabee Center required that ORU not restrict the use of the facility to only those causes which the school approves of.
Trump rented the 9k venue for the rally.