Trump attacks ‘liar’ reporter for noting small crowd at rally

“Dishonest [Times] reporter Jonathan Martin refused to acknowledge massive crowd surge forward during my speech in South Carolina. Liar!” Trump’s Instagram account complained Thursday afternoon. “Yesterday was an amazing day in South Carolina. The crowds and enthusiasm were beyond! Will be back soon!”

The problem for Trump is that Martin’s reporting looks to be 100 percent accurate.

Trump, who is No. 1 in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, appeared at two events in South Carolina Wednesday, and the first had thin attendance, while the second drew a much larger crowd. Martin noted these details in his story.

“Appearing on Wednesday afternoon at what was billed as an African-American small business meeting, Trump used his remarks before a largely white audience to argue that his lead in the polls was not being sufficiently covered, repeatedly complained about the high temperature inside the Ronald Reagan Library at last week’s debate, and lamented that any attacks on Carly Fiorina would be depicted as sexist,” he wrote in an article titled “A day of empty seats and Donald Trump in full attack.”

He added, “And he did so in a convention centre ballroom in which about a third of the seats were unfilled.”

Pictures of the event back Martin’s claim that the event in North Charleston, S.C., was sparsely attended:

“Perhaps conscious of the empty seats in the back of the room, [Trump] repeatedly commented on the size of the audience and said he had added the event to his schedule with little notice,” the Times reported.

There were also only a few media outlets on site with cameras for the event, and CNN and MSNBC only covered his remarks for a few minutes. Fox News didn’t cover it at all.

Trump’s second campaign event, this time in Columbia, S.C., had much better attendance, as noted by the Times.

“Trump found a far larger crowd on Wednesday night at a candidate forum in Columbia hosted by Republican Senator Tim Scott, filling most of an auditorium’s 2,200 seats on the University of South Carolina campus” Martin reported.

Again, photos from the event back Martin’s claim. The Columbia campaign stop was more heavily attended:

It is unclear to which event Trump’s Instagram account is referring. Regardless, in both cases, the Times reporter noted accurately the crowd sizes for each event.

A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.