Attendance at the Inauguration

It is hard to tell exactly how many people attended the inauguration of President Donald Trump this year but it is a smaller crowd of people when compared to the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama.  There seems to be a significant amount of open space left at the inauguration of President Trump compared to the almost entirely covered mall during 2009 at the inauguration of President Obama. There are some differences between 2009 and 2017. During the recent inauguration, the grass on the mall was covered in white plastic but it wasn't for Obama's. There are other signs that attendance was lower. The Washington area transit had only 193,000 trips taken before 11 am, but during 2009 at the same time, the number was 513,000 trips. 

Questions-

What do you think prompted people to skip the inauguration?

Why do you think there were white tarps on the National Mall this year when they haven't in past years and do you think it made the population seem smaller?

My thoughts:

I believe that there was such an absence of people because of all the controversy that this election has had. I do think the tarp would make the population look smaller because you can obviously tell there are fewer people at the inauguration because of the white background and the tarps were also there because of the light rain going on that day. 

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Replies

  • Great job Anna!

  • I think a lot of people skipped because of the riots and protests that been going on. I think the tarps there just because there was light rain that day.

  • More people probably attended Barack Obama's inauguration because he was the first African-American president, which was the first time in our country's history...There are a lot of mixed feelings in our country about Trump. The tarps made the population look smaller, but you also have to consider the angle at which pictures are taken at.

    • I had never thought about the angle the pictures were taken at, that's a great point! The angle of the pictures could very well have made the population at Trumps inauguration look smaller than Obamas!

  • I think that trump probably doesn't have a lot of supports in the DC area so I think that people would come of they didn't support him. I think that Trump has a lot of haters so I think that counts as people that wouldn't come. yes because I think it makes the area smaller.  

  • There were a long of controversy about Trump become the next President and a lot of people didn't like him. I think they skipped because they were protesting his inauguration. Another reason it might have been a lot smaller is because now with technology people could watch online and at home. I think they put done the white tarps down becuase of the grass and trying to protect it and also because it was raining and they might not have wanted people to ruin the grass. It does make it seem like there is less people there 

    • I agree with you, I think people skipped because they were protesting the inauguration. I agree that people could easily just watch online at home. Also, I believe that the white tarps really showed the space that wasn't being taken up by people, so it makes it seem smaller. 

  • I think that a lot of people did not go to the inauguration because they do not like Trump at all. I think they did not go because Barack Obama was the first African American president and that was a moment in history that everyone wanted to see. I think that they put white tarps on the ground to protect the grass from harm and the  public hurting it. I don't think that it made the population seem smaller. 

  • There were a lot of mixed feelings about Trump becoming president and many people resented him, which is why there were few people at the inauguration. Also in 2009 Barack Obama became the first African- American person to ever become president so it was a big deal for a lot of people, and everyone wanted to be a part of that historical event. I think they put the tarps there because it was a really rainy day and they didn't want everyone to get all muddy, I don't think it was there purposely to make the population look smaller.  

    • Great comment!I think it's very true that people would want to be a part of Obama's inauguration because it is a historical event. 

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