Last week a story appeared at The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog that claimed President Obama packed 18,000 people into a Wisconsin arena that only sports 5,000 seats. At the time it was posted, the Journal did not offer a source for the 18,000 attendee count, but Tuesday there has been an addition updating that source.
Now, according to Washington Wire, that source has been identified as Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
The Wall Street Journal wasn’t the only news outlet that blindly regurgitated the 18,000 attendee claim. Politico and the Associated Press both used the seemingly impossible number.
In fact, the Associated Press went to pains to note that these supposed 18,000 attendees was “the largest yet of Obama’s reelection campaign.”
By Monday morning, Charlie Spiering of The Washington Examiner seemed to have tracked down the source of this fantastical 18,000 attendee claim. Spiering noted that it was a White House pool report that used Mayor Barrett’s absurd estimate of the number of attendees.
Spiering also noted that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the stadium at which the Obama event was held has only 5,000 seats.
Mayor Barrett was the losing Democrat candidate that attempted to take Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s seat during the recent recall election that netted Gov. Walker a higher vote count than he won the first time he ran.
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