September 15 ,2009

The Lie:  As many as 2 million demonstrators showed up over the weekend at the DC "Tea Party" demonstrations.

Malkin: Inflated crowd estimates.

 

The Liars: Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks, other rightwing bloggers, the Daily Mail in London.

Specifically, as Politifact points out, on 9/12 right wing blogger Michelle Malkin wrote:

12:34pm Eastern: Police estimate 1.2 million in attendance. ABC News reporting crowd at 2 million ‚ tweets Tabitha Hale from D.C.

Teeny, tiny fringe, huh?

Why It's a Lie: First, ABC, as Malkin later conceded, never reported such a figure. In other words, not only was the content itself a lie, but the sourcing, which appeared to give crediblity to her lie, was fraudulent as well.

The network even isssued a statement:

At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as "tens of thousands."

Phony Evidence: Fraudulent sourcing wasn't enough. To bolster inflated claims about crowd size, many conservative bloggers circulated this photo that was purportedly of the demonstration:

How We Know It's Phony: If the photo were really taken during the Tea Party, we would be able to see the National Museum of the American Indian, on Fourth Street and Independence, which opened in September 2004.But it is nowhere to be found so the photo must have been taken before the museum was built. Other reports suggest the photo was actually taken of the 1997 rally for Promise Keepers, a group of Christian men.

The Real Crowd Size: Crowd sizes are notoriously hard to estimate at DC demonstrations. According to Pete Piringer of the DC Fire and Emergency Department, the city of Washington no longer gives official estimates. Unofficially, however, Piringer told one reporter that he thought between 60,000 and 75,000 people showed up.