Jimmy Kimmel brutally shuts down Trump’s ‘record crowd’ boast
While footage shows there are empty seats, some say they couldn’t even get into the arena
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jimmy Kimmel joked that Donald Trump “may be having some trouble with his eyes” after he praised his record-setting crowd inside the arena - despite footage of empty seats.
The late-night show host rolled a clip of Mr Trump at a campaign rally at the SNHU arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday.
“Listen to him here bragging about the crowd size at his rally in New Hampshire,” Mr Kimmel said.
“It’s a Saturday night; we have plenty,” he said during the event.
“You’ve set every record, they just told me, in this arena now; I do not know how old it is, but it’s not new,” adding that there were a lot of people also outside.
Then Mr Kimmel showed another clip of the Manchester event where Mr Trump has a heckler removed from the arena, with the camera panning onto the crowd.
As the heckler is being escorted out, the footage shows some people sitting in the crowd, yet they are surrounded by many fold-out seats that are vacant.
“Will you look at that record crowd! Mr Kimmel joked.
Boston Globe reporter James Pindell posted a gif of the rally on X, which said, “Trump says he set attendance record at the SNHU arena. Odd since he used draping to cut room in half and he had more people at his last rally.”
He then followed up with a video of empty seats within the arena.
While Mr Kimmel and other reports say that the Trump rally may not have been packed out, other coverage suggests that the event did draw large numbers to the point people were turned away.
Some people who turned up to the arena in the freezing temperatures were denied entry, according to WBZ, as the venue had reached capacity.
"Everyone wants to get in there and see the man," James Beaudion, who was standing outside the arena, told the outlet. "I just drove three hours from Conneticuit all I got was this Trump scarf."
Seating capacity varies depending on the event, according to the SNHU website, such as 10,019 seats for basketball but up to 11,770 seats for centre-stage concerts.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments