Fox News posts a tweet correcting Trump and prompting Twitter to unleash on the Liar-in-Chief
Trump took to his Twitter this morning – predictably – to boast about the size of the audience for his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
“Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!” he tweeted.
Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2018
There’s just one problem. As Think Progress reported: “according to widely-shared Nielsen numbers released Wednesday, Trump’s first State of the Union was not the most watched in history. In fact, as Fox News pointed out after Trump’s tweet, it wasn’t particularly close, with the three presidents who immediately preceded Trump each delivering State of the Union Addresses watched by more than 45.6 people.”
#SOTU TV Viewers:
2018: 45.6M
2017: 47.7M*
2016: 31.3M
2015: 31.7M
2014: 33.3M
2013: 33.5M
2012: 37.8M
2011: 42.8M
2010: 48.0M
2009: 52.4M*
2008: 37.5M
2007: 45.5M
2006: 41.7M
2005: 38.4M
2004: 43.4M
2003: 62.1M
1993: 66.9M* (largest TV audience)*Not an official SOTU pic.twitter.com/OZlUHmGQp4
— Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) February 1, 2018
Financial Times elaborated on the Fox News Research post, reporting: “However, the research arm of Fox – whose news operation is typically a sympathetic mouthpiece for the president – followed up with a tweet of official nationwide figures from Nielsen, which show that this year drew a smaller audience than several earlier speeches including Barack Obama’s 2010 address, and by both Mr Obama and Mr Trump’s first joint addresses to congress (which are not official state of the union speeches).”
Continuing, Financial Times reported that “Over 62m people – around 36 per cent more than this year’s audience – watched President George W. Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address, which outlined the country’s justifications for the impending invasion of Iraq, Fox pointed out.”
As expected, Twitter was quick to respond to Trump’s lie with Alyssa Milano tweeting links to articles disputing Trump’s claim by Time Magazine, the New York Daily News, and the Washington Post.
For your reading pleasure @realDonaldTrump:https://t.co/sgjlFqa0MQhttps://t.co/M6wj62dKMuhttps://t.co/sWGT5yXFnq
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) February 1, 2018
IR.net reporter Ed Krassenstein tweeted a multi-part response:
- “This pales in comparison to the number who will watch your Impeachment!”
- “Mueller basically as all of your criminal friends ready to testify against you. They are dropping like flies!”
- “Your own appointed FBI Director said that the bogus memo that you coordinated the creation of with Nunes is non factual!”
A few other noteworthy responses include:
Lol another lie pic.twitter.com/p9JT1YHr6l
— John (@JMBlue1878) February 1, 2018
Reviews??? This isn't a tv show
— Tammy Jagla (@TammyJagla) February 1, 2018
— Wayne Tellor (@WayneTellor) February 1, 2018
— Screaming Gina (@screaminggina) February 1, 2018
Just think, if you had gotten 20% more viewers, you could have tied Obama.
I’m sure you’re used to finishing 2nd though.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) February 1, 2018
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