Trump's administration has already delivered a barefaced lie about the physical attendance at his inauguration, and now he's attempting to twist the facts on his television ratings - which we all know is pretty much what Trump cares the most about in this world.

Having spent his entire campaign boasting about his ability to drawn in huge crowds through his presence alone, Donald Trump is now refusing to face the fact that his inauguration didn't draw in the level of viewers he would have hoped for.

Wall-to-wall coverage of Friday's event drew in an average of 30.6 million total viewers across the 12 broadcast and cable networks that provided live coverage for the day (via The Hollywood Reporter), which is 18 percent down from the nearly 38 million viewers who tuned in to watch Obama's first inauguration in 2009.

Fox proved the leading network in terms of ratings, being the only channel which actually saw viewership rise from 2009; with NBC finishing in second place, topping all of the broadcast set. The rise of streaming should be taken into account when comparing the drop between 2009 and 2017, but it can hardly compensate for such a dramatic difference in viewership.

Yet, Trump's tweet about the television ratings decided to ignore this, favouring instead the fact that the ratings were higher than Obama's second-term inauguration in 2013, which saw an average of 20.6 million viewers; despite the fact that second-term inaugurations, unsurprisingly, historically draw dramatically lower ratings - though Obama still drew more than Clinton's second swearing in in 1997.



The overall record is still currently held by Ronald Reagan, whose inauguration saw a whopping 41.8 million viewers tune in; George W. Bush's 2001 inauguration averaged 29 million viewers, Bill Clinton's in 1993 saw 29.7 million viewers, George W.H. Bush's saw a modest 23.3 million viewers in 1989, and Jimmy Carter reached 34 million viewers.

Presidential inauguration day round-up

Though Trump heads into office with historically low approval ratings, just 40 percent in favour, approval doesn't have as much correlation with inauguration television ratings as might be believed; record-setter Reagan's inauguration actually saw him enter the White House on relatively low approval ratings, marked as favourable by just 58 percent of Americans.

Trump Inauguration protests around the World Show all 14 1 /14 Trump Inauguration protests around the World Trump Inauguration protests around the World Activists from Greenpeace display a message reading "Mr President, walls divide. Build Bridges!" along the Berlin wall in Berlin on January 20, 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United State Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World An activist holds up a sign at the "We Stand United" rally on the eve of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration outside Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York on January 19, 2017 in New York Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters burn a U.S. flag and a mock flag with pictures of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump outside the U.S. embassy in metro Manila, Philippines Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Filipino protestors hold placcards during a protest rally in front of the US embassy in Manila, Philippines, 20 January 2017. On the eve of President-elect Donald Trump's inaguration as the 45th president of the United States, Filipinos and Fil-Americans held a protest in front of the US embassy in Manila to denounce the incoming US president. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Hong Kong police officers and security guards look on as an anarchist protester belonging to the Disrupt J20 movement sits after using a heavy duty D-lock and motorcycle lock to chain himself to a railing at the entrance gate to the Consulate General of the United States of America in Hong Kong to protest the inauguration of United States President-elect Donald Trump, Hong Kong, China, 20 January 2017. Two activists were arrested and taken away by Hong Kong police during the demonstration. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A banner is unfurled on London's Tower Bridge, organised by Bridges Not Walls - a partnership between grassroots activists and campaigners working on a range of issues, formed in the wake of Donald Trump's election, which aims to build bridges to a world free from hatred and oppression. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Protesters chain themselves to an entry point prior at the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Bridges Not Walls banner dropped from Molenbeek bridge in Brussels, Belgium, 20 January 2017, in an Greenpeace action part of protests Wolrd protest in solidarity with people in the US, the day Donald Trump sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds an anti-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump placard during a rally in Tokyo, Japan, Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A Palestinian protester holds a placard during a demonstration against the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and against US President-elect Donald Trump, on January 20, 2017, near the settlement of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Banners on North Bridge in Edinburgh as part of the Bridges Not Walls protest against US President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World Russian artist Vasily Slonov (L) and his assistant carry a life-sized cutout, which is an artwork created by Slonov and titled "Siberian Inauguration", before its presentation on the occasion of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in a street in Krasnoyarsk, Russia Getty Trump Inauguration protests around the World A woman holds a banner during a march to thank outgoing President Barack Obama and reject US President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration at a park in Tokyo, Japan, 20 January 2017. EPA Trump Inauguration protests around the World Palestinian demonstrators protesting this week against a promise by Donald Trump to re-locate the US embassy to Jerusalem Reuters