Trump reportedly removes aide after Phoenix rally crowd too small
Aug 29, 2017, 2:19 PM | Updated: Aug 30, 2017, 8:11 am
President Donald Trump stands before speaking at a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
PHOENIX — President Donald Trump reportedly removed an aide Tuesday after deciding that the crowd at a Phoenix rally last week was too small.
Bloomberg News reported that George Gigicos, the former White House director of advance who was in charge of the event, was blamed for the crowd.
Trump later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform Gigicos that he’d never manage a Trump rally again, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Gigicos left his job as the White House director of advance in July but was still employed by Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee. He had planned all of Trump’s campaign events since the president took office.
The president’s rally was held inside the Phoenix Convention Center. Thousands of people attended and, though no official figure had been released, it was thought about 10,000 people made it inside.
Thousands more were waiting in line more than an hour later. Many of those never went in.
KTAR News documented some confusion during the entry process, as event workers tried to sort out which doors should be used to allow people in.
Secret Service/event organizers still working to sort out entry procedure at #PhoenixRally. @phoenixpolice assisting pic.twitter.com/zyGD3F2NdY
— Carter Nacke (@carternacke) August 23, 2017
Trump’s concern with crowd sizes has been well-documented. At nearly every event, he has commented on the size and, occasionally, claimed it broke some form of record.
However, that typically ends up being incorrect. After his inauguration, Trump claimed his event was larger than that of former President Barack Obama, though photos showed that to be false.
