It's possible that Donald Trump was pleased with the turnout at his inauguration on Friday—that is, until he saw the massive crowds that flooded Washington, D.C. the next day for the Women's March. With half a million men and women protesting in the streets of the capital, joined by countless celebrities, prominent activists and influencers, it was only a matter of time before Trump made his opinion known.
On Sunday morning, bright and early at 7:47 a.m., the President took to his personal Twitter account to weigh in on the movement. Trump tweeted that he had watched the march, but questioned why the protesters hadn't voted last fall.
Suggesting these demonstrators must not have cast their ballots back in November is unfounded, of course. Poll results definitively show that, while Trump secured the electoral vote, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 65,844,954 votes or 48.2% of the total count.
Approximately an hour and a half later, Trump returned to Twitter, contrasting his earlier tweet with an uncharacteristically diplomatic message about the importance of peaceful protests.
Trump's counselor, Kellyanne Conway, also had some frustrating things to say about the Women's March movement. Notably, that she "didn't see the point."
"We certainly respect people's First Amendment rights," Conway said during a segment on ABC's This Week. "But I frankly didn't see the point. I mean, you have a day after he's uplifting and unifying and you have folks here being on a diatribe where I think they could have requested a dialogue. Nobody called me and said, 'Hey, could we have a dialogue?'"
"I just thought they missed an opportunity to be about solutions and to really fight for those millions of women whose kids are trapped in failing schools, who don't have access to health care, who don't have access to an economic affordable life."
An ironic thing to say, considering the clear message of empowerment and equality that was shared by the many speakers at the march.
The White House may or may not have weighed in on the Women's March, too. Though Press Secretary Sean Spicer says "The White House has not issued a statement," a poorly worded memo about the event, allegedly originating with the White House, has been circulating on the Internet. So make of that what you will.
From: ELLE US
