Politics & Government

Twitter Mercilessly Mocks Tiny White House Tree Lighting Ceremony

It's usually a standing-room-only event, but the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the Ellipse was a dud Thursday.

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WASHINGTON, DC -- It was a rather embarrassing turnout to the 95th Annual National Tree Lighting Ceremony Thursday evening on the Ellipse at the White House, and Twitter was quick to make comparisons to President Trump's inauguration crowd.

Kathie Lee Gifford and Dean Cain hosted the event, which included other performers like the Beach Boys. Trump himself spoke during the ceremony, using the opportunity to make a reference to the supposed "War on Christmas" and stump for the tax cut bill.

"With Trump as your president, we are going to be celebrating Merry Christmas again, and it's going to be done with a big, beautiful tax cut," he said.

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But not many people were there to witness the event in person, with reporters noting lots of empty seats — despite the fact that in previous years, many people were forced to stand due to the large crowds.

Twitter was quite eager to use the opportunity to compare it to Trump's inauguration crowd as well as Obama's crowd for the same event in previous years. Comparisons between Trump's and Obama's inauguration crowds so deeply upset the president when he took office that Sean Spicer's first action as spokesman was to angrily rebut the claims of a smaller crowd size. Clearly, Twitter users are hoping to get a similar reaction from Trump.

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Image via National Park Service

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