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Category: US Elections / Government and Politics / Media / World Politics

Trump accuses Women's March protesters of not voting

Monday, 23 Jan 2017 02:52:04

Women with bright pink hats and signs begin to gather early and are set to make their voices heard on the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency, January 21, 2017 in Washington. (AP: Jose Luis Magana)

US President Donald Trump has offered a scattershot response to the sweeping protests against his new administration that followed his inauguration, undermining the public opposition and then defending demonstrators' rights a short time later.

Millions of people from all over the world marched at more than 600 demonstrations in 60 countries over the weekend to express concern that women's rights will be eroded under Mr Trump.

The new US President offered his first responses on Twitter, accusing those marching in the events of not voting.

External Link: Donald Trump tweets: Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.

Ninety-five minutes later, he struck a far more conciliatory tone.

External Link: Donald Trump tweets: Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.

People packed into American's capital for the Women's March on Washington, as hundreds of other marches happened across America.

A city official in Washington said the turnout estimate was at 500,000 people, more than double the initial predictions, forcing organisers to abandon plans to march towards the White House.

Women's marchers in their own words


Men and women from around the world explain why they marched a day after US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Figures from transport officials in Washington suggested more people attended the march than came for Mr Trump's inauguration.

So many people turned up to the march in Chicago that organisers cancelled a planned march through the city's downtown, while marches in New York and Philadelphia also experienced larger-than-expected crowds.

Organisers said 750,000 people attended the march in Los Angeles — a huge increase on the 150,000 originally expected.

Former Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton praised those attending the marches on Twitter, reviving her campaign slogan "Stronger Together".

Women's marches also took place in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday (local time), with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people marching through the streets of Sydney alone.

Gallery: Celebrities were among those attending protest marches in the United States

White House vows to fight media 'tooth and nail'

Mr Trump spent his first day in office berating the media over their coverage of his inauguration, using a bridge-building visit to CIA headquarters on Saturday to air grievances about "dishonest" journalists and overstating the size of the crowd that gathered on the National Mall as he took the oath of office.

Mr Trump said throngs "went all the way back to the Washington monument," despite photos and live video showing the crowd stopping well short of the landmark.

In Sunday morning interviews, top advisers defended Mr Trump's anger at journalists for correctly reporting that his inauguration drew a smaller crowd than Barack Obama did eight years ago.

How many people were there?


President Donald Trump's team says his inauguration was watched by more people than any other. It wasn't.

Chief of staff Reince Priebus told Fox News Sunday that Mr Trump was trying to keep the media "honest" when they levied charges of false reporting the day before.

"The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimise this president in one day. And we're not going to sit around and take it," Mr Priebus said.

No single issue has dominated the new administration's public discourse as much as the news media's treatment of Mr Trump.

"We're going to fight back tooth and nail every day and twice on Sunday," Mr Priebus said.

He repeated White House press secretary Sean Spicer's charges on Saturday that the media had manipulated photographs of the National Mall to show smaller crowds on Friday.

Asked on NBC's Meet the Press why Mr Spicer was uttering provable falsehoods, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway fired back.

"If we are going to keep referring to our press secretary in those types of terms I think that we are going to rethink our relationship here," she said.

Ms Conway responded to criticism the new administration was focusing on crowds rather than on significant domestic and foreign policy issues by saying: "We feel compelled to go out and clear the air and put alternative facts out there."

Trump protests across the US Photo: Cities across the world hosted women's marches in the wake of the inauguration. (AP: Jim Weber)

No one cares about Trump tax returns, claims aide

Aides also made clear that Mr Trump will not release his tax returns now that he has taken office, breaking with a decades-long tradition of transparency. Every president since 1976 has released their returns.

Throughout the campaign, Mr Trump refused to make his filings public, saying they are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and he would release them only once that review is complete.

Tax experts and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said such audits do not bar taxpayers from releasing their returns.

"He's not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care," White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said in an interview.

Trump's presidential promises


From ending terrorism to unlocking the mysteries of space, here are some of the promises Donald Trump made in his inaugural address.

On the second full day of his administration, Mr Trump will see the "assistants to the president" sworn in, according to his press secretary, Sean Spicer.

He will also hold a reception for law enforcement officers and first responders who helped with his inauguration as he celebrates his 12th wedding anniversary.

White House staffers are scheduled to have a briefing on ethics and another on the proper use and handling of classified information as they begin to make themselves comfortable in their new White House offices.

Mr Priebus said Mr Trump would spend his first week in office undoing some of his predecessor's agenda and planned to sign executive orders on immigration and trade.

Mr Priebus did not provide specifics but during the campaign, Mr Trump vowed to scuttle trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mr Obama's executive order deferring deportations for 700,000 people who were brought into the country illegally as minors.

AP/Reuters

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