Trump: Much ado about a ceremonial inauguration
The anticipation of President Trump's inauguration has driven the highest hopers and the biggest haters off the deep end.
That doesn't happen for insignificant events, particularly if they involve Joe Biden.
So here we are with President Trump's inaugural plans, according to the New York Post:
President-elect Donald Trump started his official return to Washington Saturday afternoon to prepare for his historic inauguration.
The Republican, along with wife Melania and youngest son Barron, waved to a crowd of supporters as he boarded a US military airplane supplied by President Biden in West Palm Beach, Fla.
His daughter Ivanka, 43, and her husband Jared Kushner, 44, were spotted boarding that aircraft Saturday afternoon.
Trump’s arrival marks the start of a weekend of preparations for his Monday inauguration, which is set to take place in the Capitol Rotunda for the first time in 40 years due to extreme cold weather conditions.
No detail is too small in the report, such is the public interest.
What's gotten people rattled though, is that they made the common-sense decision to move the event inside the Capitol rotunda, owing to the icy cold weather out in Washington:
#BREAKING: President Trump explains that the Inaugural Address and Swearing In Ceremony has been moved inside the Capitol Rotunda due to temperatures and windchills dipping to "severe record lows."
— Culture War (@CultureWar2020) January 17, 2025
⚠️Charlie Kirk Reads the official Letter from Donald Trump regarding why he… pic.twitter.com/MIkuVAaQiU
Which is sad for all the attendees, many of whom spent thousands of dollars to come to Washington for the big event, lots of them little guys.
Preparations, after all, had been made:
Imagine being the guy who just set up 100,000 chairs on the National Mall and they announce they’re moving the inauguration indoors pic.twitter.com/ddH1k4tBYT
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) January 17, 2025
But cold is genuninely risky, and more people die of cold than heat. You don't want out-of-town families with little kids out in that kind of weather, sitting and freezing, especially if they aren't used to it and don't have proper cold weather gear.
Here is the latest update on the 2025 inauguration of Donald Trump. Officially, due to severe cold weather, the ceremony has been relocated to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The traditional Inaugural Parade along Pennsylvania Avenue has been canceled. Tickets issued for the outdoor…
— Spence Rogers ✟ (@SpenceRogers) January 18, 2025
Instead of recognizing that it's cold out -- and maybe citing history of cold inaugurations that didn't end well -- ask William Henry Harrison -- Democrat operatives immediately decided it was because Trump feared the crowds would be too small.
In '61, John F. Kennedy was Inaugurated on the Capitol steps, in windchills of 7 degrees. It was almost as cold for Obama in '09.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) January 17, 2025
In fairness, Trump IS more than 3 decades older than JFK & Obama were.
Or did he just fear small crowds? pic.twitter.com/3TFJil3HqF
I guess Jerry Nadler's abundant absence would have left a hole in the crowd, right, Dave?
It's ridiculous. Why would the Post be reporting the details of the inaugural in such detail -- who's coming, where Trump is staying, what his pre-event plans are -- if there was low public interest in the matter? Oh, and, Trump has a history of drawing crowds, particularly when he is winning.
They also brought up the crowd-control incident on Jan. 6, 2021, and howled at the outrage of Trump walking back into that sacred institution. File under 'barf alert.'
On the right, there is concern that security would be inadequate, which, given the history of Trump's security and the history of all the fringe leftists who's made strikes against Trump, the last one less than three weeks ago in Las Vegas, is a valid concern, but it doesn't entirely cancel out the weather concerns.
When the decision was made to move the event inside, the jockeying among the Washington denizens was so intense to get a seat inside that the Trump team made this announcement:
BREAKING: ONLY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND SENATE WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE ROTUNDA FOR TRUMP’S SWEARING-IN. @thebeaudavidson pic.twitter.com/Hhq0YAza2F
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) January 17, 2025
👀🚨BREAKING: Only members of US House & Senate will be allowed in the Rotunda for Trump’s swearing in.
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 18, 2025
Something is definitely going on, the only question, what is actually going on here?
pic.twitter.com/29WMW5meJX
Paranoia for some runs deep:
RUMOR: The Secret Service cannot guarantee the president-elect's safety and has cancelled the swearing in ceremony at the Rotunda. They are considering cancelling the watching party at Capital One Arena. The post inauguration events have not been cancelled. These 'rumors' are not… pic.twitter.com/dfGZyshOa2
— @amuse (@amuse) January 18, 2025
The U.S. Secret Service has expanded their Initial Security Perimeter around the National Mall and other Sites in Washington D.C. for the Inauguration on Monday of President-Elect Donald J. Trump. This comes as Rumors arise that the decision to move the Inauguration from outside… pic.twitter.com/8OzD2Y9aQA
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 18, 2025
Susan Crabtree at RealClearPolitics credibly tied the matter together with her sources, showing that weather, combined with history and security concerns do coincide:
‼️‼️Decision to Cancel Outdoor Inauguration Events -- Weather or Security Related? + other Security Concerns:
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) January 18, 2025
Over the last 24 hrs numerous colleagues and friends have asked me what Secret Service sources are saying about the cancellation of outdoor events for President-elect… pic.twitter.com/I6HBkAcmrD
It makes sense. Now there's talk that the event will be moved to the White House.
Like a lot of us, that's fine, so long as it's done. We just want Trump safely in office. Let's pray for his safety and the well-being of those who in good faith came to see the inaugural of the century. It wouldn't be such a story if Trump's return weren't so intensely wanted by so many people.
Image: Screen shot of meme from X