Trump punishes aide who organized rally in Phoenix
President bothered by crowd size optics
President Donald Trump was in a bad mood before he emerged for a confrontational speech in Arizona last week.
TV and social media coverage showed that the rally site, the Phoenix Convention Center, was less than full. Backstage, waiting in a room with a television monitor, Mr. Trump was displeased, one person familiar with the incident said: TV optics and crowd sizes are extremely important to the president.
As his surrogates warmed up the audience, the expanse of shiny concrete eventually filled in with cheering Trump fans. But it was too late for a longtime Trump aide, George Gigicos, the former White House director of advance who had organized the event as a contractor to the Republican National Committee. Mr. Trump later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform Mr. Gigicos that he would never manage a Trump rally again,according to three peoplefamiliar with the matter.
Mr. Gigicos, one of the four longest-serving political aides to the president, declinedto comment.
Even by his standards, Mr. Trump was remarkably strident in Phoenix. After introductory speakers, includingVice President Mike Pence, lauded him for his commitment to racial harmony, the president came on stage and lambasted the media for what he called inaccurate reporting on his remarks about violence between hate groups and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va.
He threatened to shut down the federal government unless Congress funds construction of the Mexican border wall he promised in his campaign. He telegraphed that he would pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, convicted of defying a court order to stop racial profiling by his deputies. And in their home state, he assailed Arizona Sens. John McCain for the failure of the Affordable Care Act repeal and Jeff Flake for being “weak” on illegal immigration, without mentioning their names.
Mr. Gigicos had staged the event in a large multipurpose room. The main floor space was bisected by a dividing wall, leaving part of the space empty. There were some bleachers off to the side, but otherwise the audience was standing — and the scene appeared flat, lacking the energy and enthusiasm of other rallies.
Although the crowd looked thin when Mr. Trump arrived about 6:30 p.m., rallygoers filled in the space while Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, former Georgia state Rep. Alveda King, evangelist Franklin Graham and Mr. Pence delivered introductory speeches. A city of Phoenix spokeswoman told the Arizona Republic newspaper that about 10,000 people were inside the room when Mr. Trump took the stage.
Mr. Trump’s first words when he stepped to the microphone: “Wow, what a crowd, what a crowd.”