Trump’s inauguration ratings were lower than Biden’s and Trump’s own first inauguration

The Trump regime got off to a rocky start. The inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States on Monday (Jan. 20, 2025) drew approximately 24.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, with peak viewership hitting 34.4 million during the 12:15 pm ET quarter-hour segment.

These numbers represent a significant 21% drop from Trump's first inauguration in 2017, which attracted 31 million viewers. The viewership also fell short of President Joe Biden‘s January 2021 inauguration by 27%, which had gathered 33.8 million viewers.

Demographics analysis revealed that a substantial 71% of the audience was aged 55 and above, while only 6% fell into the 18-34 age bracket. With a Household Rating of 14.1, this non-consecutive second inauguration ranks as the third-lowest rated since 1969, surpassing only George W. Bush‘s (11.8) and Barack Obama‘s (14.0) second inaugurations.

In this handout provided by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, former U.S. President Donald Trump poses for his booking photo at the Fulton County Jail on August 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Trump was booked on 13 charges related to an alleged plan to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump and 18 others facing felony charges have been ordered to turn themselves in to the Fulton County Jail by August 25. (Photo by Fulton County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

The 60th Inauguration Day coverage, spanning approximately from 10:30 am to 7 pm ET, was broadcast across 15 networks. The comprehensive viewership data encompasses ABC, CBS, NBC, Merit Street Media, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, CNNe, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, and PBS.

Not surprisingly, the MAGA faithful tuned in to see their leader and his fellow oligarchs do their thing on Fox News, drawing 10.67 million, followed by ABC News with 4.85 million, NBC News with 4.58 million, CBS News with 4.35 million, CNN with 1.80 million and MSNBC with 880,000. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News drew 2.09 million, followed by NBC News with 1.22 million, ABC News with 1.12 million, CBS News with 966,000, CNN with 563,000, and MSNBC with 106,000.