I really don’t understand the point from either side, the whining of the Trumpets, or the gloating about the smaller crowd by the anti-Trumpers.
Logic and common sense can naturally deduce the myriad of reasons for a smaller crowd in 2017 vs 2009.
First, Obama was the first black President, or half-black President to be precise, so his inauguration was a far more historical event than the average inauguration. This tends to bring in more looky-loos.
Second, Washington D.C. is located in a heavily Democrat city (you can tell by the high crime rate and high level of poverty). Additionally, the area also has a high number of black residents, so naturally the crowd will be bigger seeing that it’s far easier for these folks to get to the inauguration than it is for Mid-Western Republicans.
Third, there was rioting, violence, and all kinds of civil disorder occurring throughout the city in 2017, so a lot of people who might have attended decided against it in order to avoid personal harm or risk. This wasn’t a factor in 2009 because I don’t recall any Conservative groups trashing Washington on the election of Obama.
Fourth, and let’s just face the facts, Dems have a much better ground game in that they tend to spend way more money on making crowds look bigger at major events. They put a larger focus on collecting funds to bus people in and put people up in hotels that otherwise wouldn’t go. Republicans , for whatever reason, just don’t tend to do this and tend to have a “if they want to come, they’ll find a way” attitude. I know I do.
So, in conclusion, who should really care what the crowd looked like. I know I don’t, so far I’ve personally been impressed with some of what Trump as done. I have no clue if he’ll screw up, if he’ll be magnificent, or if he’ll just be meh. Who really knows, and anyone who claims to know is speaking through pure bias.
Fifth, white tiles made the gaps far more visible.
Sixth, security was reportedly considerably tighter because conservatives don’t riot when they don’t get their way (they sat still for eight years of that fraud “Barry Hussein”, and the demented lefties can’t make it 24 hours.) It was reportedly more difficult and time-consuming to be screened to enter the central parts of the mall.
I’d say it’s very important. The lefties are trying to whip-up chaos. The more they feel supported, the more they will agitate and destabilize.
The great test will be whether Trump will expose the birth certificate (or rather the lack thereof.) If he does so quickly before great distractions, he’s for real about stopping the insanity and horror. If not, he’s part of the cabal effort to destabilize and set people at each other’s throats before ‘The Big Glitch’.