Trump touts TV ratings for inauguration

President Donald Trump early Sunday touted television ratings for his inauguration, saying 11 million more people tuned in compared to four years ago.

“Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!” he tweeted.

Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2017

According to Nielsen data examined by Bloomberg, Trump’s ratings fell below those for the first inaugurations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Obama’s 2009 inauguration had 7 million more viewers, the news outlet reported, while almost 11 million more people watched Reagan be sworn into office in 1981.

{mosads}Trump on Saturday slammed the media, saying they underreported crowd size for the inauguration.

“Honestly it looked like a million and half people, whatever it was it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument … and by mistake I get this network and it showed an empty field, and it said we drew 250,000 people. Now that’s not bad, but it’s a lie,” Trump said during a visit to CIA headquarters.

His spokesman later attacked news organizations’ focus on the inaugural crowd size as “shameful and wrong.”

“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe,” Sean Spicer said during his first official appearance in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.