CNN Fires Back at Trump on Inauguration Ratings Winner
CNN fired back late Tuesday at President Trump, who said more people tuned in to watch his inauguration on Fox News than “FAKE NEWS” CNN.
“According to Nielsen cumulative numbers, 34 million people watched CNN’s inauguration day coverage on television. 34 million watched Fox News,” read the message tweeted from CNN Communications. “There were an additional 16.9 million live video starts on CNN Digital platforms. Those are the facts.”
@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/bTtBoNr0Bn
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) January 25, 2017
The response followed a tweet from Trump’s personal account praising Fox News for “being number one in inauguration ratings.”
Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN – public is smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Earlier this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer defended his claim that Trump had the largest inauguration audience ever.
Spicer said Saturday that Trump had “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.”
“It’s unquestionable,” Spicer said this week, doubling down on his initial claim, though not providing specific numbers.
“And I don’t see any numbers that dispute that when you add up attendance, viewership, total audience in terms of tablets, phones, on television. I’d love to see any information that proves that otherwise.”
(h/t The Hill)