As Inauguration Day Arrives, Trump’s Popularity is Half That of Obama in 2009

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:49 pm

Being an enthusiastic toady for the Kremlin aside, things have gotten so bad for Trump since the election that, as the Palmer Report tells us, “Not only is no one performing for Trump, no one is even attending.”

This is not what Trump is telling us, of course, tweeting the other day that,

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Trump’s propensity for lies notwithstanding, it has been no secret that there will be more protesters than celebrants in Washington, D.C., for Trump’s inauguration, but now we learn that far from being “bigger than expected,”

“[T]he question has become whether he can even get enough people to avoid having empty seats at the inauguration ceremony. According to one report, the answer is no – and he’s resorting to using paid seat fillers to avoid the bad look.”

Arguably, Trump already looks bad and that ship has sailed beyond recall. He is the least popular president-elect ever and he seems to plummeting in the ratings faster than the planet is warming. Trump has called Obama a failure but as Gallup points out, “Trump’s 40% favorable rating is roughly half of what Barack Obama enjoyed before his inauguration in 2009 (78%).”

Bill Clinton had a higher approval rating than Trump. So did the much-maligned George W. Bush. All of which results in paid seat-fillers for Trump. Bill Palmer writes,

Lesley Abravanel, also known as the Savvy Gadfly, announced the following on her verified Twitter account: “Thank you Donald Trump for already creating jobs! My friend is being paid to be a seat filler at your Inauguration!” Although some interpreted her claim as merely being a joke, she confirmed in the replies that it was in fact real.

The only element of truth in Trump’s boast is that he has reportedly raised $90 million for his inauguration, but true to form he won’t tell us what it’s being spent on – Tim Tebow helmets, portraits of himself, or a new gold toilet for the executive bathroom, are possibilities.

And as well as ordinary people showing their displeasure with the New Order there are plenty of Democratic leaders:

Hacktivist group Anonymous has called for a mobilization against Trump’s inauguration as well. Actor Mark Ruffalo is part of a rally to be held in front of the Trump Hotel the night before the inauguration and the day after there will be a women’s march to protest the new misogynist president.

Many have called for hurting Trump where it hurts most – his TV ratings. He can pay for seat fillers (some of that $90 million?) and perhaps even viewers, but there can be no disguising the fact that far fewer people want Trump now than wanted him before. It is a pathetic man indeed who has to buy fans. Sad!

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.