
In every way, Trump just can't measure up to President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump's first official State of the Union speech was not only a dark and depressing litany of lies and smears  it was also a ratings failure, as he lost once again to President Barack Obama.

Preliminary data shows that 40.4 million people watched Trump deliver his speech across broadcast and cable outlets.

In January of 2010, over 48 million people tuned in to watch President Obama's first official State of the Union.


It is the latest area where Trump falls far behind his immediate predecessor. Attempting to undo Obama's accomplishments has become one of the driving forces of Trump's tenure, as he has tried to erase the 44th president's legacy even if America gets hurt in the process.

The State of the Union failure will now live alongside Trump's poorly attended and viewed inauguration, along with his record-breakingly awful first year approval ratings  the lowest since it has been measured.

Trump is not liked, his agenda has largely failed to attract votes, and the amount of people who want to see him speak is dwindling.

He has spent the last year wholeheartedly embracing racism while also working to push tax giveaways to the ultra-rich and take away health care from millions.

That's on top of convictions of his top campaign aides while his own attempts to obstruct an ongoing federal investigation into election meddling continue to come to life.

Congressional Republicans are retiring at a record pace, rather than face a wave of anti-Trump voters, while his own White House staff can't turn in their resignations quickly enough.

To show how poorly Trump did, he could not even match his own previous performance, with viewership well below his joint address to Congress.

Of course, that speech also underperformed President Obama. By nearly 5 million.

He just can't measure up. Sad!