The president has claimed the fair is “packed with happy people” but footage from the National Mall tells a different story

CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins trolled President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair by showing just how few people showed up to the week-long event.

Standing on the National Mall Thursday among a sparse crowd, Collins said “for a president who often fixates on crowd size, so far the fair on Washington’s National Mall hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype.”

The fair was intended to showcase goods and culture across America’s 50 states. However, when Trump has been accused of ‘hijacking’ events around America’s 250th birthday to make them about himself. The fair was opened with sparse booths and limited attractions. This, combined with D.C.’s ongoing heatwave, has resulted in minimal crowds attending and a lot of mockery on social media.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
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      29 days ago

      The sites that do things like claim that CNN is “trolling Trump” are doing it to get clicks from left-leaning people. But, the effect is to hurt the interests of left-leaning people.

      CNN is factually reporting on the “state fair” thing in an unbiased way, but reporting it truthfully makes Trump look bad.

      Calling it trolling makes it seem like it’s what Jordan Klepper does on The Daily Show. It makes it seem partisan and biased.

      But hey, these news sites are out to make a buck, and people post their stuff to social media sites like this one which generates clicks and revenue. So, mission accomplished.

  • ignirtoq@feddit.online
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    29 days ago

    Following his speech, the president is planning on setting off fireworks for 40 minutes in an attempt to break the world record for fireworks. Firework manufacturers have said this will cost many millions of dollars, but the White House is yet to disclose exactly how much they are spending and how they obtained the funds.

    Those USAID funds, and funding for dozens of other programs, aren’t going where they’re legally supposed to anymore, so probably from there.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    First comment on the article, “that’s not ‘trolling’ - that’s reporting”

    Damn straight.

  • Eddbopkins@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    My bosses at work who are 60+ all remember how great the 200th was. Everyone voted trump and everyone is disappointed beyond belief at how bad this 250th is.

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      28 days ago

      I grew up in the 80s and 90s and I remember hearing a lot of references to “The Bicentennial.”

  • PurpleHawkeye619@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    Her reporting isn’t trolling.

    The Independent running the article after the faire was closed for heat today and therefore no one is there, is next level trolling and im here for it.

    • BenLeMan@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      You’re right, it’s terrorism. Or will be declared as such soon enough, mark my words. The days of free speech in the U.S. are numbered.

  • BeBopALouie@lemmy.ca
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    29 days ago

    There was an event down the road that had considerable people at it. So the heat excuse kinda falls flat.

      • BeBopALouie@lemmy.ca
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        28 days ago

        It was on Reddit on another post with someone mentioning that there was an event a few blocks away from the fair that had a large number of people. Went back but I could no longer find it.

  • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    Why did they decide on calling it a “State Fair” anyway? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to call it The National Fair?

  • frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
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    29 days ago

    Are they asking the booths how much foot traffic they need to justify the state expenditure to be there? Because they are wasting taxpayer money to be bored and hot currently.

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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      Are they asking the booths how much foot traffic they need to justify the state expenditure to be there? Because they are wasting taxpayer money to be bored and hot currently.

      It would be a pittance compared to the billions Trump is stealing from taxpayers. At least the people paid to run the booths are regular people and not billionaires.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      My state spent zero tax dollars on this campaign rally, but apparently we had a table. Someone from a Trump organization drove down there and manned a table in our name

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    And, another video of the speaker series shows former Bachelor contestant turned Evangelical preacher, Madi Prewitt Trout, speaking to a near-empty audience.

    Geez you’d think that’d have been a doorbuster.