Donald Trump is refusing to let go of the fact a smaller crowd attended his inauguration in Washington than for Barack Obama’s swearing in - tweeting a photo of a crowd scene that is to hang in the White House press room.
Trump has become obsessed with reports of the diminished turn-out for the ceremony to mark his triumph. The next day he sent out his Press Secretary Sean Spicer to hold an impromptu and now infamous news conference and make a series of eyebrow-raising claims.
The most questionable was that Trump attracted the biggest audience to “ever witness an inauguration - period - both in person and around the globe”.
The combination of the photos below taken at the National Mall - Trump’s inauguration at 12:01pm and Obama’s at 1:27pm in 2009 - were at the heart of the row.
A series of reports over the weekend have suggested that rather than dismiss the debate as irrelevant, Trump has taken it to heart. This from the New York Times:
“Mr Trump grew increasingly angry on Inauguration Day after reading a series of Twitter messages pointing out that the size of his inaugural crowd did not rival that of Mr. Obama’s in 2009. But he spent his Friday night in a whirlwind of celebration and affirmation.
“When he awoke on Saturday morning, after his first night in the Executive Mansion, the glow was gone, several people close to him said, and the new president was filled anew with a sense of injury.”
His latest act suggests he is desperate for the last word. Yet while the panoramic photo appears to be from Friday’s event, the date is wrong.