Politics & Government

Crowds at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony couldn’t fill the National Mall

Crowds fill in along the National Mall before the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the Untied States on Jan. 20, 2017.
Crowds fill in along the National Mall before the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the Untied States on Jan. 20, 2017.
Image: AP Photo/Patrick Semansk
By
Johnny Simon
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Former US president Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration brought an estimated 1.8 million people to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump’s…probably a bit less.

As the ceremony to inaugurate Donald Trump as president got underway today, many noticed how empty the Mall, which stretches from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, looked compared to the 2009 inauguration.

A view from the website EarthCam shows a live feed of the sparsely-filled Mall during Donald Trump’s speech.

The crowd.
The crowd.
Image: Screenshot via EarthCam

Compare to an aerial view of the dense inauguration attendance in 2009:

The crowd on the National Mall on January 20, 2009.
The crowd on the National Mall on January 20, 2009.
Image: Reuters/Stelios Varias