President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to question why the women who marched in protest of his presidency on Saturday didn’t vote. He also scrutinized the many celebrities—like Madonna, Scarlett Johansson, and Alicia Keys, among others— who took part in the marches.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!” Trump tweeted Sunday. “Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017
Shortly after his first tweet, the President followed up with a more measured response:
“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy,” he wrote. “Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.”
Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017
More than 1 million people joined the marches in the United States yesterday, but nearly 5 million participated overall—with protests taking place around the world in cities like Sydney, Paris, London, Tokyo, and more. The crowds were much larger than those for Trump’s inauguration the day before, reports show.
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Speaking to the CIA on Saturday, Trump gave inaccurate figures about the crowd at his inauguration, saying it “looked honestly like a million and a half people” and said “it went all the way back to the Washington Monument.”
During a press conference later that evening, press secretary Sean Spicer delivered a statement criticizing the media for allegedly underestimating the size of the crowds for President Trump’s inaugural ceremony—saying that “photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall.”