Can We Please Stop Obsessing Over Trump’s Inaugural Crowd Size?

Full disclosure: I don’t care how many people were physically present at Trump’s inauguration. I don’t care about comparing his crowd size to Obama’s. Why does it matter? Why is the media suddenly obsessed with these numbers?

We’ll get to that in a bit.

In case you haven’t heard, everyone is losing their minds over a comment Sean Spicer made during a press briefing over the weekend. He blasted the media for its “shameful” coverage of the inauguration turnout and suggested that Trump’s turnout was bigger than President Obama’s 2013 inauguration turnout. Then he said, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.”

Except…not really. No one really questions that Obama’s 2009 inauguration had a bigger in-person audience. But the global audience? Spicer could be right about that one. Maybe it was bigger. Who knows. He addressed this during the press briefing Monday:

Press Sec: "We have to be honest with the American people. I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts…our intention is never to lie" pic.twitter.com/xgUKdGTPZQ

— ABC News (@ABC) January 23, 2017

Kellyanne Conway later told NBC’s Chuck Todd that Spicer used “alternative facts.” Chief of Staff Reince Priebus defended Spicer and said this is all an “obsession by the media to delegitimize this president,” and really, that’s all it comes down to.

I’m SO SICK of these mindless arguments on crowd size. WHO CARES? What does it matter? The media only cares because it’s another way for them to delegitimize Trump’s presidency. They want to say, “OH! Not many people were there! He’s so unpopular! He HAS NO MANDATE!” Even though he won the freaking election fair and square. Since when does the media care about crowd size, anyway? If I recall, they completely dismissed the massive crowds Trump attracted on the campaign trail. Why do they care now? Because narrative. That’s why.

That being said, conservatives are split. Some wish the Trump administration would let it go, and I definitely understand where they’re coming from. But at the same time, we’ve been waiting SO LONG to have a Republican administration fight back, and that’s exactly what Spicer was trying to do at the press briefing over the weekend. (And they had EVERY RIGHT to hit back against the false report that Trump removed the bust of MLK.)

I completely believe the Trump administration should hit back against false reports from the media, but I like the way Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush, said it.

“…do it on high ground, not on shaky statistics.”

Don’t give the media weasels an inch. Hit back against false reports, fine. But enough with this crowd size thing. No one cares. It’s so trivial. If only one person showed up at the inauguration ceremony, guess what? Trump STILL WON the election. He’s still president. End of story.