'Peerless propaganda': Analyst says Trump rally attendance numbers were inflated

The actual number of supporters who filed into a recent rally for former President Donald Trump is in dispute after an editorial writer accused the fourth estate of faltering on the tally.

Bob Hennelly's new article for Salon — "Trump's MAGA rallies are getting an inflated boost from the press" — takes a closer look at Trump's New Jersey rally and the number of people the Associated Press said were in attendance.

"Headed into the 2024 election, every American needs to up the challenge of authenticating the news that they use to inform how they vote," according to Hennelly. "After a generation of newspaper, cable and broadcast consolidation and layoffs news gathering has taken a major hit. Truth and facts matter now more than ever."

The reporter, like many outlets turned to the Associated Press wire service for details, Hennelly called it the "gold standard for news gathering."

The AP report quoted Wildwood spokeswoman Lisa Fagan who initially said she estimated the crowd represented between 80,000 and 100,000 attendees.

After the event, the nearly 100,000 number was in dispute. (Days later video of the crowd appeared to be in the few thousands and not tens of thousands, according to Hennelly.)

The reporter then contacted Fagan she said it was “based off her own observations on the scene Saturday, having seen ‘dozens’ of other events in the same space.”

The town of Wildwood told the reporter "we defer to the Trump Campaign for the exact count on the beach.”

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano offered some context.

"They were watching and listening from the beach and boardwalk, in bars and restaurants, at hotels and second homes," Troiano, a Republican, submitted in a statement. "People even lined up along the streets parade-style. We defer to the Trump Campaign for the exact count on the beach.”

The fact that the count was so far off from the actual smaller number is problematic for Hennelly.

And he's not alone.

“The story is a gift to the Trump campaign, and a peerless propaganda victory in an environment in which momentum and intensity are critical factors,” stated Steve Schmidt. “The fantastical number is now ‘real.’"

For Hennelly, the incident shows signs of a crisis.

"The essential question is how we know what we know because the so-called reliable sources we’ve always counted on historically appear to be buckling under as they cover this election as just another horse race."