Trump's Boast About SOTU Audience Not Quite Right

It was brag-worthy, but in other ways
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2018 8:11 AM CST
Trump's Boast About SOTU Audience Not Quite Right
President Donald Trump claps at his first State of the Union address.   (Win McNamee/Pool via AP)

President Trump likes his crowds big, and he seems pleased with what he ended up with on Tuesday night. "Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech," he tweeted Thursday. "45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history." Except that's not exactly right. Vox reports Trump can toot a few horns: His speech was the most tweeted ever, with 4.5 million tweets on the subject, and bested President Obama's SOTU addresses from 2011 onward (only 31.1 million watched his final one in 2016).

But Trump was outpaced by two former presidents—and by himself. The record goes to Bill Clinton's 1993 SOTU address, which was viewed by 66.9 million. Obama garnered 52 million viewers to his joint session speech in 2009, reports the Washington Post, and 48 million to his first SOTU address in 2010. The latter figure is the same number that watched Trump's 2017 joint session speech. The Post does air one caveat: The Nielsen figures don't factor in streaming, which has become much more commonplace in recent years. (More President Trump stories.)

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