Despite his assertions that people were pouring in in record numbers for his inauguration, it's looking like the turnout for Donald Trump's inauguration basically paled in comparison to that of his predecessor's.
A quick side-by-side comparison of aerial images of the National Mall from Trump's inauguration yesterday and Barack Obama's 2009 election make the disparity pretty obvious, even though CNN reports that the national park service, which oversees the National Mall, doesn't yet have exact numbers for crowd sizes on Friday.
Binyamin Appelbaum, a Washington correspondent for the New York Times tweeted photos of the two different crowds yesterday:
Compare the crowds: 2009 inauguration at left, 2017 inauguration at right.#Inaugurationpic.twitter.com/y7RhIR2nfC
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) January 20, 2017
According to CNN, the photo from Trump's inauguration was taken during his speech, and therefore should have represented his peak crowd, while the timing of the photo from Obama's inauguration is unknown.
Additionally, many photos of the inaugural parade show stands where only the first and second rows were filled (if that).
Vice President Mike Pence just passed ...#InaugurationDay2017pic.twitter.com/ICgrhMZ5Kq
— Deborah Berry (@dberrygannett) January 20, 2017
Even though the weather yesterday was gray and rainy, it's unlikely weather differences are to be blamed for the difference in crowd size - while Trump faced temperatures of 40 degrees and rain at his inauguration, the temperature hovered around 20 degrees at Obama's.
One attendee reportedly even told the Washington Post of the mood at the inaugural parade, "It’s almost like a funeral." Yikes. So much for those record-breaking crowds.