Trump’s New Plans Have Turned Inauguration into an Absolute Disaster
Donald Trump’s indoor inauguration has reportedly turned into a real “shitshow.”
Not every lawmaker planning to attend Trump’s swearing-in may not be able to squeeze into the Capitol Rotunda, four lawmakers and aides told Politico Sunday. While the invite to move inside was originally extended to those on the presidential platform and members of Congress, it’s looking like the guest list may continue to shrink.
“Simply put, there’s not enough room,” one senior Republican aide told Politico. “It’s a shitshow.”
The last-minute scramble to adjust plans for the weather has sparked confusion among lawmakers about whether they would be able to attend with their spouses, or if their guests would be moved to other locations throughout the building. Major donors, some of whom gave millions of dollars to Trump’s inauguration fund, are also reportedly scrambling to secure a spot. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported Monday that there were roughly 1,800 seats in Emancipation Hall, where Trump is scheduled to make remarks after being sworn-in in an entirely different room.
Reasonably speaking, the Rotunda is about 7,200 square feet, which could fit roughly 1,000 people if they were sitting church-style, without accounting for a stage or other spacial concerns. Photos of Ronald Reagan’s indoor ceremony in 1985 showed that everyone was standing, while pictures of preparations for Monday’s ceremony show rows of folding chairs.
Meanwhile, NewsNation reported that the room could fit 2,000 people max, and a Trump spokesperson denied a rumor that only 99 people would be admitted. So, one can imagine it would be somewhere in the middle. But just hours before the ceremony, it was still anyone’s guess.
Lightening the load, dozens of Democrats have already said they will not be attending, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said simply, “I don’t celebrate rapists.”
Last week, the president-elect announced that his inauguration would be moved indoors due to severely low temperatures in Washington, leaving some of his supporters who had traveled hundreds of miles to see him sworn in feeling left out in the cold.