40 Times More People Came for ObamaÂ

Thursday afternoon Donald Trump held a concert to kick off hisÂ inauguration and a weekend of celebration at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The president-elect tried to spin it, suggesting that maybe no one had ever held a concert there, pretending there were “tens of thousands of people” there, filling the space, “all the way to the back.”

Trump told attendees,Â â€œThis started out tonight being a small little concert, and then we had the idea maybe weâ€™ll do it in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I donâ€™t know if itâ€™s ever been done before,â€ he said, according to Buzzfeed. â€œBut if it has, very seldom. And the people came by the thousands and thousands, and here we are tonight, all the way back. All the way back.â€

Trump on Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert “I don’t know if it’s ever been done before” pic.twitter.com/YSNFXV6q3K â€” BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 19, 2017

Later, at a donors’ dinner, Trump tried to spin a bit harder.

â€œWe thought it would be a small concert and tens of thousands of people were there,â€ the president-elect said. â€œIt went all the way to the back. They never had so many people. And very few people ever had a concert at the Lincoln Memorial.â€

None of his remarks were true.

According to an MSNBC crowd estimate, 10,000 people showed.

Meanwhile, eight years ago, Barack Obama held a pre-inauguration concertÂ at the National Mall.Â

â€œI donâ€™t know if itâ€™s ever been done before,â€ Trump says of inauguration concert at Lincoln Memorial. Hereâ€™s Obama doing it in 2009. pic.twitter.com/Ni7d7M0HD5 â€” Matt Viser (@mviser) January 19, 2017

“Rap fans danced to country music, elderly white men high-fived with young African Americans and tears mixed with laughter as a varied lineup of A-list stars and an equally diverse crowd jammed the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the nation and its historic president-elect yesterday,” The Washington Post reported Jan. 19, 2009.

“By some estimates, more than 400,000 people filled the western end of the Mall for the official start of a three-day jubilee of prayers, parades and parties. They endured long security lines and chilly weather for a two-hour salute to the man who will be America’s first black president and to the nation that elected Barack Obama to the White House despite centuries of racial divisiveness.”

This tweet sums it up:

The photo above, a screenshot from CNN, was taken at 4:44 PM ET. Here’s video of Trump and his family arriving at 4:13 PM ET:

The Trump family reaches the Lincoln Memorial for a welcome concert https://t.co/6OZtrfIwim https://t.co/YMTC49Dk5E â€” CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 19, 2017

Many noted it didn’t help Trump wasn’t able to attract well-known talent:

Obama’s inauguration lineup vs Trump’s lineup pic.twitter.com/XFZes7mg0s â€” derick (@DerickSmith_) January 19, 2017

Trump really drawing the same star-filled lineup as Obama was able to pic.twitter.com/TH4RzOOvfk â€” #ThankYouObama (@lemonadenormani) January 13, 2017

Cause Obama had BeyoncÃ©! Trump has a lineup that would be lucky to play at county fairs! https://t.co/2zteeW5Fsn â€” Zimri Padilla (@zimri_padilla) January 20, 2017

Friday doesn’t appear to be much different. D.C. should be packed. Trump and his team have been falsely claiming dress shops and hotels are sold out but according to many, including one New York Times reporter, the city is conspicuously empty:

Taking Metro to my inauguration ceremony location. Smooth ride, quiet, seats available. I’ve had more trouble getting to a Nats game. â€” Katie Rogers (@katierogers) January 20, 2017

UPDATE:

Buzzfeed editor tweets there’s a light crowd out Friday AM:Â

Not sure on lines getting into the National Mall, but a lot of empty space out there this morning… pic.twitter.com/0aj4DVv56L â€” Austin Hunt (@AustinHunt) January 20, 2017

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