The liberal media is looking for something to console itself. Anything to show that Obama’s election was bigger, better and more important than Trump’s. The latest talking point seems to be that Obama drew a bigger crowd at his inaugurations than Trump.
The New York Times reports:
Trump’s Inauguration vs. Obama’s: Comparing the CrowdsAn analysis of news footage appears to indicate that fewer people attended President Trump’s inauguration than President Obama’s in 2009. The footage on this page was captured 45 minutes before each oath of office. Attendees were still entering the National Mall up until Mr. Trump’s speech.The analysis by Keith Still, a professor at Manchester Metropolitan University in England, estimates that the crowd on the National Mall on Friday was about one-third the size of Mr. Obama’s.Professor Still was a crowd safety consultant for the 2011 royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and has advised the Saudi government on crowds for the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.The initial analysis was limited in scope because footage of a larger area was not yet available. The number of people on the National Mall is typically a fraction of the total crowd that gathers for a presidential inauguration. In 2009, for example, about 460,000 of the estimated 1.8 million people who attended President Obama’s inauguration were on the National Mall.
CNN got in on the action with this handy, commentary-free video:
If your first reaction to this was “So what?” you’re not alone. First of all, it changes nothing about the election or its outcome. Secondly, there are plenty of good reasons for this.
Allahpundit of Hot Air rounds out a few of them:
Media very interested today in pointing out that Obama’s inauguration crowds were biggerTo give Obama his due, it’s no surprise that his 2008 crowd was easily the largest ever. He received the most votes of any presidential candidate in history that year, a record that still stands. He succeeded a president whose job approval had cratered, so he was greeted with jubilation by everyone not a part of the activist right. And of course he was the first black president, whose inauguration was historic beyond the usual reasons.It’ll be a long time before any president meets that benchmark of excitement. But Democrats have institutional reasons for drawing bigger crowds in Washington too. It’s a heavily Democratic city; it stands to reason that inaugurating a Democratic president will draw many more local onlookers than inaugurating someone from the other party would.
Let’s also not forget that lots of the people who voted for Trump may not have been able to get away from daytime obligations like, you know, jobs.
The media should also be reminded that left wing activists blocked entrance checkpoints for Trump’s inauguration to prevent people from attending. Not to mention the fact that they turned downtown DC into a war zone. No one attending either of Obama’s inaugurations had to worry about being attacked by roving mobs of twenty-somethings bent on destruction.
Featured image via YouTube.
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