The Empty Seats At Trump's Rally Say So Much

The weekend of Trump's 100th day in office was a full one, politically. On Saturday night there were two competing political events, both high-profile for different reasons. Earlier in the day marked Donald Trump's rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, an event he purposely scheduled instead of attending the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Traditionally, the spirit behind the White House Correspondents' Dinner is one that combines banter with serious criticism. It allows journalists, entertainers, and celebrities an opportunity to gather alongside each other and share drinks while roasting the president, and also bringing up legitimate concerns. However, in order for that to happen, the president needs to be there.

It should be noted that Trump's absence wasn't out of left field. A few months ago, on Feb. 25, Trump announced he'd miss The White House Correspondents' Dinner in a tweet, when he said, "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"

Instead, he opted to hold a rally at the Pennsylvania Farm Complex in Harrisburg, where he gave an hour-long speech about his first 100 days in office, and the plans he has for the future of this administration. He also managed to bash the media as well, at one point saying the media should be given "a big, fat, failing grade," according to reports from BBC.

Trump made it abundantly clear that he was relieved to miss the White House Correspondents' Dinner throughout his speech. Reports from CBS News reveal that he even started his speech by bashing the other event. He said:

"As you may know, there's another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington, D.C., did you hear about it? A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation's capital right now. They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner without the president. And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington's swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people, right?"

While Trump confidently touted his crowd as superior, journalist Jonathan Tamari of the Philly Inquirer posted tweets revealing empty seats.

Meanwhile, the White House Correspondents Dinner was sold out, with not an empty seat to be seen, let alone an empty row.

This feels like a situation where it's wisest to let the pictures do the talking, because there are a lot of words and feelings these images elicit.

Again, here's what the rally looked like: full of people, certainly, but not topping The White House Correspondents' Dinner.

As Tamari stated in a later tweet, the issue wasn't that Trump didn't draw a crowd at his rally. He certainly did. However, the pathos lies in the fact that he felt the need to bolster his rally as the superior event.

Pictures really do speak louder than words. In this case, they say a lot about the difference between what Trump sees and what many of the rest of us see.