WASHINGTON, June 5, 2018 — A White House event billed as a consolation for disappointed Philadelphia Eagles fans appears to have been attended mostly by Republican interns from across the nation’s capital.

The event was supposed to be a celebration of the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory, but after President Donald Trump found out that only a small number of players planned to attend, it was listed on the president’s daily schedule as “A Celebration of America.”

“The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better. These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony—one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem,” Trump wrote Monday in a tweet.

But instead of entertaining the one thousand disappointed Eagles fans who, according to the president, had made the trip to Washington to celebrate their team, the U.S. Marine Band and Army Chorus appeared to perform for a hastily-assembled group that appeared to be comprised mostly of White House, Capitol Hill and Republican National Committee interns.

“We were invited by the White House earlier today — we got an email,” said Republican National Committee intern Jenna Webster.

Webster, whose status was made clear by an RNC intern badge hanging around her neck, explained that she and the rest of her fellow interns had only found out about the event that morning.

However, her tendency towards candor was not shared by most of the alleged members of the Eagles Nation who’d come to the White House. A number of them couldn’t remember the names of prominent Eagles players or their hometowns in Pennsylvania.

One such purported Eagles fan, Joe Zarriello, said that he’d come in spite of his hometown team’s absence to honor American service members.

But when asked where it was that he’d come from, Zarrello only replied “Pennsylvania.” Pressed further on the location of his home, he appeared to be at a loss for words for a period of several seconds, after which he could only point to Delaware County as his place of residence.

Although a few scattered Eagles caps could be seen bobbing from the South Lawn press riser, local Philadelphia reporters who’d made the trip had trouble finding anyone among the crowd who was both willing to speak to reporters and could correctly name the quarterback who’d led the Eagles to their Super Bowl victory this year.

“I’ve asked 6 of the “fans” at the White House who was the @Eagles quarterback during the super bowl. Not ONE person knew,” NBC Philadelphia reporter Tim Furlong said in a tweet.

Equally as suspicious was the fact that Eagles team attire appeared to be largely absent on Tuesday’s crowd, though one White House official suggested the crowd’s sartorial tendencies were solely a function of attendees’ respect for the White House.

However, a look at crowd photos taken at similar events revealed an equal mix of fans sporting team hats or jerseys, and Washington types wearing suits or other business attire.

Tuesday’s crowd appeared to be largely composed of the latter, many of whom could be spotted wearing or carrying White House or Capitol Hill intern badges.

When BeltwayBreakfast asked one badge-wearer if he was an Eagles fan who’d planned his trip in advance, his companion poked him in the ribs and chided him for not hiding his badge as she’d been told to do.

But the few people BeltwayBreakfast found who were willing to speak with reporters represented the exception, rather than the rule, as most refused to take any questions — another marked departure from the normally gregarious fan-filled crowds at similar events.

One attendee who began walking over to the press rope line in response to reporters’ shouts was pulled back by a friend, who, just loud enough to be heard, said: “You idiot! We’re not supposed to talk to reporters!”

When asked for a breakdown of how many at Tuesday’s event were Eagles fans who’d pre-registered — and how many were Republican interns from around Washington, White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters cautioned against printing inaccurate crowd estimates, but at our deadline, had not yet responded to our request for crowd size and composition information.