President Trump remarked on the size of the George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C., late Saturday night.
Thousands of demonstrators attended protests throughout the day to honor the lives of Floyd and other black people whose deaths have drawn attention to the racial divide in the United States and the use of force by police.
“Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated,” the president tweeted. “National Guard, Secret Service, and D.C. Police have been doing a fantastic job. Thank you!”
Much smaller crowd in D.C. than anticipated. National Guard, Secret Service, and D.C. Police have been doing a fantastic job. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2020
More than 10,000 people showed up to protest on Saturday, according to the Washington Post. The draw appeared to be far less than the 100,000 to 200,000 protesters local officials predicted, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told the Associated Press on Friday.
Still, Saturday was the ninth day of protests over issues such as police brutality after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Large crowds of protesters were spotted in other cities, including Philadelphia.
Thousands of people march down the Ben Franklin Parkway toward City Hall. Protest remains peaceful. Via Chopper 6 @6abc #PhiladelphiaProtest pic.twitter.com/kgndFCqy6Z
— Chuck McDade (@Squared6abc) June 6, 2020
This is not the first time Trump has brought up crowd size. The president’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, stirred controversy when he claimed the president’s inauguration was the “largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period. Both in-person and around the globe.”
Trump himself later claimed that more than a million people attended. However, these claims were widely determined to be false, and Spicer later said he regretted his claim about the crowd size.
