When Donald Trump moved his second inaugural indoors, it was a two-for-one joke. One, the bigly macho man was scared of some chilly weather. Two, everyone knew that if the inaugural had gone ahead outdoors, the crowd would have been sparse and sad, and Trump would have looked like a giant loser. So he forced everyone into the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration and he still managed to get a pathetic crowd size, this time in television viewership.
President Donald Trump’s inauguration numbers are in, and the notoriously ratings-obsessed president isn’t going to be happy. Early figures suggest that Monday’s proceedings, which were moved indoors due to frigid weather, took hefty dive—more than a third, according to Nielsen figures—in comparison to Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
Nielsen found that ratings across ABC, CBS and NBC’s coverage of Trump’s swearing in as 47th president on Monday hovered around 26.05 million viewers on average from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m (ET), reported The Hollywood Reporter. According to Nielsen’s ratings, viewership for the two previous inaugurations—which includes Trump’s first term—fared much better. About 32 percent, to be exact.
Around 39.87 million people tuned in to watch Biden take the oath of office in 2021. A hair behind Biden, Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 pulled in an average 38.35 million viewers. However, THR reported that viewership then was measured from 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (ET).
In terms of where audiences tuned in to watch the presidential fanfare, Fox News overwhelming held the most viewership. During the 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. window, Fox peaked at around 10.59 million viewers, just behind its coverage for Trump’s first swearing in.
Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all had significantly fewer viewers for their second entries into the White House, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As I said before, I didn’t watch either of Trump’s inaugurals. I only watched the Carrie Underwood video and I looked through the photos, which is when I was surprised to see that Trump couldn’t manage to put his tiny hand on the bible for his oath of office. What’s up with MAGAville though? Why aren’t they celebrating? Why didn’t they tune in to watch this sh-thead? Why does it feel like, post-election, the people who voted for the Leopards-Eating-Faces Party are actually really mad?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
