Even though Donald Trump applauded the “beautiful turnout” of the rally that he held in Phoenix, Arizona, last week, he has since fired his event organizer because of crowd sizes.
“What a crowd,” Trump said during the event.
“A lot of people in here, a lot of people pouring right now,” he also said at the beginning of the rally. “They can get them in. Whatever you can do, fire marshals, we’ll appreciate it.”
At the end of the rally, he once again referenced the size of the crowd, tweeting: “Thank you Arizona. Beautiful turnout of 15,000 in Phoenix tonight!”
— Eminem leads crowd in ‘f— Trump’ chant during music festival —
Thank you Arizona. Beautiful turnout of 15,000 in Phoenix tonight! Full coverage of rally via my Facebook at: https://t.co/s0D12EFs40 pic.twitter.com/WT4D9Vsen1
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2017
But after the rally was over, Trump fired George Gigicos, telling top security aide Keith Schiller to inform the man that he would never be working at another Trump event again.
Gigicos had been responsible for organizing Trump’s rallies during the campaign and also worked for Trump at the White House until last month. He was director of scheduling until he returned to his consulting business. For the Phoenix event, he was acting as a contractor for the Republican National Committee.
Trump has been notoriously touchy about the size of crowds at his event, and for this crowd in particular, there were reports that the numbers were more like 4,000-10,000, not nearly the 15,000 he claimed. What’s more, the Washington Post reported that the crowd size continued to thin as people lost interest while the president ranted and raved.