Among United States President Donald Trump’s many controversies in his first few days in office four years ago was a self-inflicted one about how many people attended his inauguration on January 20, 2017.
“[W]e had a massive field of people. You saw them. Packed,” Trump said the day after he was sworn in. “I looked out, the field was – it looked like a million, million and a half people.”
Then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer went even further, telling reporters the crowd in Washington, DC, that day “was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period – both in person and around the globe”.
Neither was telling the truth.
Two weeks ago, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), the congressional committee responsible for facilitating presidential inaugural events at the US Capitol, announced they were severely curtailing attendance at the swearing-in ceremony on the West Front of the Capitol.
The committee’s chairman, Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt, said the JCCIC had consulted public health experts and decided “that this global pandemic and the rise in COVID-19 cases warranted a difficult decision to limit attendance” at the inaugural ceremonies.
Traditionally, the committee distributes 200,000 tickets, including bundles that members of Congress give out to constituents. This year, the JCCIC said invitations to members of Congress will be limited to themselves and one guest, with total attendance expected to be approximately 1,000. (Source: Al Jazeera)
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