Donald Trump’s big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop.
New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump’s event.
“We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement,” reads the June 12 email, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We understand this is not a traditional ‘background job,’ but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought.”
Hey, what else do you expect from a Clinton activist?
Trump’s organization disavows knowledge of this strategy to make his rally more yuge. Extra Mile isn’t talking either:
Asked if Trump paid anyone to attend the event, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said, “No,” and that he had never heard of Extra Mile or Gotham GR.
“Mr. Trump draws record crowds at almost every venue at which he is a featured speaker,” Lewandowski told The Hollywood Reporter. “The crowds are large, often record-setting and enthusiastic, often with standing ovations. Mr. Trumps message is ‘make America great again.’ “
Daily Mail chronicled how an anti-Trump activist first noticed an Instagram photo of a man, who often posts pictures from his paid extra gigs, posing with another paid actress. The Instagram account has since been deleted:
But, according to claims from anti-Trump activist Angelo Carusone, at least two of those pictured in the crowd are jobbing actors. A Trump spokesman fiercely denied the claims, saying that he routinely draws large crowds by himself.
In an article published on the Medium social media platform, Carusone points to an Instagram post by actor Domenico Del Giacco, showing him posing in the lobby with the tag ‘Trump Mania’.
Sources close to Del Giacco confirmed to DailyMail.com that he was paid to attend.
The woman next to Del Giacco in the photograph was also named on social media as Courtney Klotz, who promotes herself as a member of the Screen Actors’ Guild.
I’m only disappointed I had to find this out this way, instead of Trump offering some patented straight talk about how he certainly had paid people to fill out his crowd, and proudly, because he’s super, super rich. It would have been the perfect Bulworthian bow on his performance.
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