Did you know that Joe Biden had an "overflow" crowd in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday? In case you didn't know this, several members of the media elite repeatedly hyped that point on Twitter.
Of course, there were a few things suspicious about the supposed overflow such as the rather small size in the mere dozens plus the fact that there was a temporary stage along with sound system very conveniently set up in the "overflow" room. Also the fact that Biden addressed the overflow crowd before speaking in the main room which has an official capacity of 300 and seems it could have handled that overflow.
There was no curiosity about all this on the part of the mainstream media folks who chirped merrily on Twitter about the "overflow." They also seemed to blindly accept that there were 320 people in what was called the overflow room because that is what they were told. Some even repeated that there were 450 people in the main room of the International Longshoreman's Association union hall despite the published capacity of 300.
Now drop back and consider that drawing less than 800 people is considered an achievement. Four years ago, Bernie Sanders was filling arenas. Just weeks ago, President Trump drew an estimated 19,792 people in Orlando. That's more than 20 times the size of the Biden "overflow" crowd.
But let us now join the MSM echo chamber hammering home the "overflow" point posted on Twitter starting with Caitlin Byrd, political reporter for the Charleston Post and Courier.
Still waiting on final count on how many people are here for this afternoon's town hall for Biden. Line was wrapping around the building when I arrived. There is an overflow room, where I'm told hundreds are watching as well. #scpol #2020SC
— Caitlin Byrd (@MaryCaitlinByrd) July 7, 2019
Oh, didn't you hear the "overflow" count from your fellow journalists? They were told 320 (as well as "hundreds").as we shall see. Remember, why rely on your own eyes when you can be told how many people were in the overflow? Is it because it's "just" Twitter? For a more detailed count, let us go to the tweet of Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg News.
Biden town hall drew 450 in the main room and 320 in overflow, per @KimpsonForSC's chief of staff. One of the biggest crowds Biden's had in an early primary state.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) July 7, 2019
So did you count the people yourself or did you rely on what you were told. And how do you have 450 in the main room when the ILA local 1422 website lists a capacity of only 300?
Katie Glueck, a political reporter for the New York Times, also recites those magic numbers.
am told per organizers there are 450 people in the room Biden is addressing now and 320 in overflow room
— Katie Glueck (@katieglueck) July 7, 2019
Oh, you were told those numbers by the organizers. Hey, I don't blame them for generous spin on the numbers. I blame you for credulously passing that hype along without the least bit of skepticism.
One has to ask if NBC News correspondent Mike Memoli is capable of counting the people in the pic he posted on Twitter. Perhaps he could share it with his fellow correspondents who kept regurgitating that 320 overflow number.
For one of the first times I have seen this campaign @JoeBiden speaking to an overflow crowd, as venue in Charleston for town hall filled up. pic.twitter.com/FNxQ4nNMpn
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) July 7, 2019
Finally, we have a tweet from the Biden campaign traveling press secretary, Remi Yamamoto, who wants you to know that they achieved overflow. Got that? Overflow!
First stop: our fired up overflow—> Charleston townhall. #TeamJoe pic.twitter.com/0dhN4pG5QQ
— Remi Yamamoto (@RemiMYamamoto) July 7, 2019
Fortunately for Remi, her hype job was made much easier by the "mainstream" press, who willingly went along with the "overflow" shtick despite suspicious numbers and how everything was so very conveniently set up in advance to address that overflow crowd.
