ME-OWCH, TRUMP!
Still smarting after protests dwarf inaug
THOSE BIG crowds are still bothering President Trump.
The new President, on his second day in office, criticized the participants in Saturday’s Women’s March in Washington and talked up his own TV ratings from the inauguration.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!” Trump tweeted Sunday.
“Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Trump also boasted about the television draw for his inauguration on Friday.
“Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!” he wrote.
In a tamer tweet, though, Trump seemed to accept the opposition.
“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views,” he said.
Trump drew the third-biggest Nielsen ratings for an inauguration, after the first swearing-ins for President Ronald Reagan (about 42 million, in 1981) and President Barack Obama (about 38 million, in 2009).
Second-term inaugurations usually see a dropoff in viewers; Obama’s next oath of office, for example, had about 21 million viewers.
The mass of marchers on Saturday vastly outnumbered the crowds from Trump taking the oath of office.
An estimated half a million people attended the Washington rally, and other sites such as New York City drew massive crowds in support for women’s rights.
Crowd experts estimated that Saturday’s march attracted three times more people to the National Mall than Trump’s inauguration festivities, according to a New York Times report.
Trump and the White House tried obscuring the popularity of the Women’s March — claiming the crowd numbers were somehow inaccurate.
A White House official sent a statement to NBC News insisting, in advance, that the attention on the Women’s March will overshadow the pro-life March for Life, scheduled for Friday in Washington.
“It’s a shame that the March for Life, which estimates the same number of marchers in D.C. (650,000 in 2013) and will be happening next Friday, will not get anywhere near the same amount of coverage that this march got — and those pro-life members were NOT welcome at the Women’s
March,” the official’s statement said.
The Women’s March — sponsored by Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, among other groups — drew some criticism for bumping a sponsor with pro-life views.
The official’s statement also blasted pop star Madonna, who spoke and performed at the march, for saying she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House” due to Trump’s presidency.
“Comments like these are absolutely unacceptable and had they been said about President Obama, the mainstream media would be in an uproar,” the White House said.
“The Trump administration welcomes a robust discussion regarding the critical issues facing America’s women and families.” the statement added.
Initial reports indicated that the statement was an official release from the White House. But White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Twitter Sunday it was not an official White House statement.
Meanwhile, Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs’ longtime coach, who has been highly critical of Trump in the past, went on a lengthy rant about the newly sworn-in President Saturday night.
While meeting with reporters before the Spurs played the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, Popovich didn’t hold back after being asked about his views on the women’s marches in Washington and around the world.
“Their message is obvious,” he said. “Our President comes in with the lowest (approval) rating of anybody whoever came into the office. And there’s a majority of people out there, since Hillary (Clinton) won the popular vote, that don’t buy his act.
“And I just wish that he was more — had the ability to be more — mature enough to do something that really is inclusive rather than just talking and saying, ‘I’m going to include everybody.’ ”