Reporter Fact-Checks Trump’s Claim Cops Are Keeping Out Crowds of MAGA Protestors: ‘There is One Pro-Trump Person Here’

AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey

Former President Donald Trump lied about his crowd size (again) on Tuesday.

NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard was in New York City to cover Trump’s hush money trial, so he was able to get a firsthand look at the crowds who were expected to gather either in support of the ex-president or against. Trump, while speaking to press before entering the courtroom on Tuesday, claimed that there was such a big police presence in the area that his supporters “can’t get near this courthouse.”

Hillyard, unless he was at the wrong courthouse, painted a very different picture of the scene outside — plainly stating, “Just…not true.”

Trump just claimed that the police have shut down the streets around the courthouse for blocks & that his protesters can’t be here.

Just…not true. There is one pro-Trump person here & the main street along the courthouse is open to traffic. pic.twitter.com/JyrH3ZkNrX

— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) April 23, 2024

He pointed out: “There is one pro-Trump person here & the main street along the courthouse is open to traffic.”

Trump is well-known for wildly exaggerating the size of his crowds, or getting his staff to do it for him.