Donald Trump’s inaugural concert crowd looked a lot smaller than Barack Obama’s

Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down and the Piano Guys headlined incoming president's show

Justin Carissimo
New York
Friday 20 January 2017 05:49 GMT
Donald Trump supporters attend pre-inauguration concert

Donald Trump held his inaugural concert Thursday night and it looks like he drew a significantly smaller crowd than Barack Obama did in 2009.

This year, the Trump administration managed to gather 10,000 attendees, according to MSNBC. In contrast, The Washington Post estimates that the Obama administration drew a crowd of 400,000 people to his first concert.

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It was expected that fewer people would attend Trump's concert thanks to a line-up filled with lesser-known performers such as 3 Doors Down, the Piano Guys, and Toby Keith who performed outside the National Mall.

Performers at the Obama administration's concert included Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, U2, James Taylor, John Legend, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Mary J Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks and Sheryl Crow among others.

Trump's turnout on Thursday C-SPAN
Obama's turnout in 2009 Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty

On Twitter, people seemed to notice the clear difference in attendance.

Still, the incoming president told his audience the concert was "unprecedented" and that thousands upon thousands of supporters showed up to the event.

“This started out tonight being a small little concert, and then we had the idea maybe we’ll do it in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before,” he told the crowd.

“But if it has, very seldom. And the people came by the thousands and thousands, and here we are tonight, all the way back. All the way back.”


He even went on to falsely suggest that no other president has held an inaugural celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, "I don’t know if it's ever been done before, but if it has, very seldom."

In reality, both of the presidents before him held the same event. President Barack Obama held his aforementioned celebration eight years ago while President George W Bush held his ceremony outside the steps of the Lincoln Memorial back in 2001.

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