WASHINGTON, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – Barely arrived in
the White House, President Donald Trump has touched off a stormy debate over the extent of his popular support, but sought Sunday to shift the focus to upcoming actions from his office.
A day after massive anti-Trump protests in Washington and in hundreds
of towns and cities around the world, the new president turned to Twitter to mock the demonstrators who had filled the streets.
“Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly,” Trump
tweeted early Sunday, referring to the actors, singers, writers and filmmakers who took the stage at the Washington march to speak out against him.
An hour later, adopting a more conciliatory tone, he tweeted that
“peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy.”
“Even if I don’t always agree,” he said, “I recognize the rights of
people to express their views.”
More than two million people are estimated to have taken part in the
women-led marches in the United States and around the world to defend women’s rights and oppose an array of policy stances from the new president.
Trump was facing unfavorable comparisons to his inauguration
attendance a day earlier, and on Saturday accused the news media of lying about the turnout at his swearing-in.