Donald Trump 'fires longtime aide because he did not get enough people at Phoenix rally'
US President said to be furious about the crowd's size
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has sacked one of his long-term aides because of the small crowd numbers at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona.
George Gigicos, who worked for the Republican National Committee and had previously managed scheduling and events for the US leader, was responsible for organising the event. He was reportedly told he would not be hired again after the Arizona rally.
The size of the crowd reportedly angered the president before he began speaking. Sources told Bloomberg that Mr Trump was unhappy while waiting to go on stage after cameras showed the arena was far from full.
He is said to have ordered Keith Schiller, his long-standing assistant who now manages his private office, to tell Mr Gigicos, one of Mr Trump’s four longest-serving aides, that he would never again be allowed to organise a rally.
Mr Trump’s anger was visible in his speech, in which he lashed out at the media, Congress and several Republican senators.
He also tore into campaigners who have succeeded in having statues of Confederacy leaders removed from several US towns and cities, calling them “weak, weak people”.
"They're trying to take away our culture,” he said. “They're trying to take away our history."
He also threatened to shut down the US government if Congress refuses to approve the funding needed to build the wall along the US-Mexico border that the President has repeatedly promised.
Mr Trump’s public statements appeared at odds with his private anger at the size of the crowd, which was reportedly around 10,000 strong by the time he started speaking.
His first comments on stage were: “Wow, what a crowd, what a crowd”.
A week later he told reporters: “You saw the massive crowd we had [in Phoenix]”.
Mr Gigicos previously served as the White House Director of Advance, responsible for planning visits and events. He left in July to return to his consulting business but continued to be employed by the Republican Party.
A number of Mr Trump’s closest advisers have left the White House in recent weeks. Reince Priebus, the President’s Chief of Staff, Sean Spicer, the Press Secretary, Steve Bannon, the Chief Strategist and Sebastian Gorka, Mr Trump’s Deputy Assistant, have all quit or been sacked.
The President’s Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci, was also forced out after less than two weeks in the job.
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