According to Google, Americans Were More Interested In Protesting the Inauguration Than Attending

Donald Trump has been saying for a while now that today’s inauguration would have “unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout“—we’re talking runs on local “dress shop” numbers—and while that was far from the reality, America’s Google search history does show that there was unusually large interest in the event.

The thing is, the vast majority of that interest is focused on protesting the event.

According to numbers released to Vox, the number of people searching for “protest inauguration” is far higher than those searching for “attend inauguration.” And that disparity extends to states that Trump carried in the election.

Of course, we don’t know the meaning behind all of these searches. Just because a person searches for inauguration protests, doesn’t mean they’re participating or even supportive. But a major point of protest is visibility. The 200,000 expected to turn out in Washington tomorrow (along with the sister marches, which are now taking place not just in every state, but on all seven continents) aren’t showing up because they think their presence will automatically remove Trump from office. A lot of people simply want the world, and those in power, to know that there is opposition, that not everyone supports a Trump presidency.

And according to those Google searches, that fact is well-known.

(via Vox, image via Shutterstock)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter