Citing no evidence, Hannity estimates that 20,000 attended Fox-promoted GOP health care protest.

What is it about these tea party supporters and numbers? Malkin insisted that some 2 million turned up the last time they held one of these things, which is a simply insane thing to say as that would mean more people turned up for that 9-12 March on Washington than turned up for the inauguration of Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Carter, Clinton and George W. Bush. To my knowledge Malkin has never recanted that figure and still claims that it was true.

Now listen as Hannity initially claims that 20,000 people attended at Bachmann's request and walks that back to claim that 5,000+ turned up.

Capitol police estimated the crowd at only 4,000. That's hardly the "massive" amount which Hannity and others had told us would attend.

UPDATE:

Not only was the rally badly attended, but it appears to have been attended by nutcases, and highly offensive ones at that.

NBC's First Read reports on "jaw-dropping signs." In a November 5 post on the rally, the MSNBC.com blog First Read reported:

Here are some of the more jaw-dropping signs seen at the rally:

• "Get the Red Out of the White House."

• "Waterboard Congress"

• "Traitor to the U.S. Constitution" (Picture of Obama on sign)

• "Ken-Ya Trust Obama?" (Rep. Steve King, R-IA, autographing the sign)

• "Un-American McCarthyite" (with picture of Pelosi)

• "I'm the King of the World: Remember the Titanic?" (Drawing of Obama in the mold of the 'Jovial Sambo' from the Jim Crow era doing the Leo Titanic pose."

Here's the kind of pictures which were on display:




These people really are a class act.

Hat tip to Media Matters.

Tags: Hannity, Bachmann, tea party, protests