Donald Trump
Donald TrumpConservative group warns of deficit spending on infrastructure under Trump, Clinton McCain in tough spot with Trump How 'America the Beautiful' shows the differences between Trump and Clinton MORE blamed the fire marshal of Columbus, Ohio, for restricting access to his event on Monday, accusing him of acting with the mayor for political purposes.
“The fire marshal turned away thousands of people. Look at the size of this place. They were given orders that no more than 1,000 people [could enter],” Trump told the crowd at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
"That’s politics at its lowest,” Trump added in remarks to reporters in a hallway of the convention center.
Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, held up a photo during the town hall of what he said was a “totally empty” Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham ClintonConservative group warns of deficit spending on infrastructure under Trump, Clinton McCain in tough spot with Trump How 'America the Beautiful' shows the differences between Trump and Clinton MORE rally from a few days ago, before asking: “Is the mayor a Democrat? That’s what I heard. He ought to be ashamed of himself.”
Steve Martin, the spokesman for the Columbus Fire Department, told the New York Times that Trump's accusations were "completely false." He said that Trump, the Secret Service and the venue had all agreed on the maximum number of people in the space, limited due to construction and another tenant in the building.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, held her rally on Sunday at the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, a local public high school. Trump seemed to be suggesting that Mayor Andrew Ginther, a Democrat who endorsed Clinton in February, had some influence on the crowd restriction at his event.
Trump levied the criticism against the fire marshal during a brief talk with reporters before the event began, according to reporters on the scene.
It’s not the first time he’s painted fire marshals as politically motivated.
He made a similar attack in Colorado Springs, Colo., this past weekend, saying from the stage that it was “unfair” to keep people out of the main venue.
"And the reason they won’t let them in is because they don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” Trump said. “Hey, maybe they’re a Hillary person. Could that be possible?”
The fire marshal in that area had been named Civilian of the Year by a local newspaper for his response to a November shooting at a local Planned Parenthood.
Right before that rally, the Colorado Springs Fire Department had to free Trump from a stuck elevator, according to The Denver Post.