Boo Hoo Mr. President: Donald Trump’s Inauguration Crowd Claims Trashed [Opinion]
The eyes of the world were on President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday. A massive worldwide TV audience watched Trump being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s inauguration speech was music to the ears of his supporters, even if it did not take the conciliatory tone that many expected. Instead, Trump attacked the political class in Washington and took a sideways swipe at previous administrations. The BBC called Trump’s inauguration speech “angry and primal” and claimed that his speech has “set the tone” for his presidency.
After yesterday’s antics, many will believe that the BBC are wrong about Trump’s inauguration speech. President Trump’s reaction to news reports comparing his inauguration crowd with Barack Obama’s in 2009, will have left many people shaking their heads in disbelief. Let’s be honest, when the right wing Fox News trashes Trump’s claims about the size of the 2017 inauguration day crowd, he should start to worry.
Speaking at the headquarters of the CIA yesterday, President Trump attacked the media claiming that the size of his inauguration day crowd was “deliberately misrepresented.” Trump claimed that he had caught the media in a lie.
“I made a speech. I looked out. The field was — it looked like a million, a million and a half people. One network said we drew 250,000 people. Now that’s not bad. But it’s a lie.”
“The, you know, 20-block area, all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed. So we caught them, and we caught them in a beauty. And I think they’re going to pay a big price.”
Fox News straight out states that President Trump is wrong. Aerial photographs show that there were large empty spaces on the Mall. Washington hotels report that they had vacancies and Washington metro reports far fewer passengers used the metro on Trump’s inauguration day than on Obama’s.
To compound Trump’s embarrassment, he later sent out his press secretary to repeat the claims and to take a swipe at the press corp. The Guardian states that Sean Spicer’s claims about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd just don’t “stack up” against the evidence.
Comparing Trump’s Inauguration Day Crowd With The Women’s March
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was widely criticized for creating division. Trump was accused of racism, sexism and misogyny. It is fair to say that not many people are ambivalent where Donald Trump is concerned. His supporters love him, his detractors detest him, there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
Those divisions were shown yesterday when huge crowds gathered in Washington, and across the world, for the Women’s March Saturday, organized as protest to highlight discontent over Trump’s inauguration. CNN claims that the Washington crowds were much bigger for the Women’s March that they were for Trump’s inauguration.
In recent week’s, we have seen many people claim that everyone should give Trump a chance. Trump was arguably elected by people who wanted to see something completely different in the White House. Those expecting Trump to take a more conciliatory tone in his inauguration speech were disappointed, but his speech at the CIA’s headquarters was even more worrying.
Donald Trump is now the world’s most powerful man. Relations between the U.S. and Russia are dangerously fractured, relations with China are in desperate need of healing. Instead of attending to political reality, Trump’s comments show that he is a narcissistic egotist. Trump needs to turn his attention to matters of state, not infantile “d**k swinging.”
Trump’s detractors need to accept that he is now the president of the United States of America. The U.S. needs Donald J. Trump to be a good president. If the divisions in society are to be healed, Trump needs to be successful. The size of Donald Trump’s inauguration day crowd is meaningless, why should anyone care? Trump knows he is a divisive figure, his election campaign played on it to help him win the presidency. He now needs to learn to accept criticism with good grace.
In his business life, Trump may be used to people obeying him without question. As president of the U.S., he needs to learn that life isn’t always like that. Trump’s reaction to claims over the size of his inauguration is a pointless distraction. Trump can cry “boo-hoo, my crowd was bigger than your crowd” all he likes, but it has no bearing on his ability to succeed as president.
[Featured Image by David J. Phillip/AP]
