Photo: Jonathan Bachman / AP
President Trump is declining to accept Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel's apology, and is now calling for his firing:
.@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
Background: Weigel tweeted, then deleted, a photo on Saturday from Trump's Friday rally in Florida. Weigel's tweet mocked Trump for claiming the crowd was "to the rafters."
When the president called on Weigel to apologize and added visual evidence of the crowd size, Weigel promptly apologized for his error.
.@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I'd gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9, 2017