Trump once again failed to measure up to Barack Obama as his State Of The Union drew nearly 4 million fewer viewers than Obama’s first SOTU.
Variety reported, “That means that President Trump’s address drew approximately 44.57 million viewers across broadcast and cable. That number does not include those who live-streamed the speech. Obama’s first State of the Union in 2010 drew 48 million viewers across broadcast and cable, while his first address before a joint session of Congress in February 2009 drew 52.4 million viewers.”
Trump’s limited popularity can be seen in the fact that a quarter of the viewership for his speech came from Fox News. Trump isn’t appealing to the rest of America. In fact, non-Republican America has already tuned Trump out. Trump isn’t a ratings draw, and he can’t hold a candle to Obama in terms of the ability to get an audience to tune in to what he has to say.
Trump is so insecure about not measuring up to Barack Obama that he has taken to falsely claiming that he is just as popular as the former president. The bad news for Trump is that a president’s first State Of The Union is usually their most watched.
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The vast majority of Americans have rejected Trump from the moment that he took office, and if he maintains his current trajectory the only people who will be watching his SOTUs in the future will be Fox News viewers.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
