Freedom 250 is calling crowd critics "Negative Nancy skeptics" as DC News Now reported sparse attendance at the Great American State Fair.
President Donald Trump created Freedom 250 to run the 16-day fair on the National Mall, part of America's 250th anniversary celebration.
"Anyone betting on empty celebrations bet wrong," Freedom 250 spokesperson Julia Friedland told DC News Now's Ben Dennis.
"Freedom 250 is not interested in arguing with the Negative Nancy skeptics; we're busy celebrating with Americans flocking to DC from every corner of the best nation in the world," the spokesperson argued, and claimed that more than 150,000 people had attended in the first three days.
"This Fourth of July marks the beginning of America's 250th birthday celebration, a once-in-a-generation milestone," Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said. "For 250 years, America has been the greatest nation in the history of the world. This isn't just another Independence Day. It's America's 250th. And history only comes around once."
"Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it?" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump separately claimed the opening-night crowd was "packed to the brim — At least 45,000 people were there."
Independent media reports suggested that there was less enthusiasm for the Freedom 250 events than the organizers claimed.
NBC News reported attendance at "more than 1,000," while the Washington Post described opening-day crowds as "relatively sparse compared with past National Mall events."
The fair runs through July 10. Trump is scheduled to speak again at the fair on July 4.
