Less than 48 hours after being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to respond to mass protests around the US and across the globe against his inauguration.
President Trump said that he respected demonstrators’ rights to protest, writing: “Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.”
But the president also ribbed protesters, asking rhetorically where they were on Election Day.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote?”
Trump added that the many high-profile celebrities who had come out against his campaign and inauguration had hurt their own cause, writing “Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Some in Hollywood strayed from loyal opposition and peaceful dissent to open incitement against the federal government, including actress and singer Madonna, who on Saturday said she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” and called for a “revolution”.
In a another tweet Sunday, Trump bragged about the record-setting ratings of his inauguration, which topped 31 million.
“Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!”