Trump Claims Biden Had 'Record Low' Thanksgiving Day Address Viewing Figures
President Donald Trump has cited the conservative news outlet One America News Network (OANN) in claiming that President-elect Joe Biden got low audience figures during his Thanksgiving Day address.
In a tweet on Friday, Trump made fun of Biden's online views for his speech on Wednesday, and compared the purported figure with the historically high votes he had received to take on Election Day.
"Biden's Thanksgiving Day Address gets just 1000 views online, a record low. Observers say a candidate with "80,000,000" votes would get many more online viewers. Numbers don't lie, or add up!" Trump tweeted.
With his tweet, the president tagged the pro-Trump news outlet OANN, which appears to be his source for the number.
A clip shared on social media shows an OANN anchor describing Biden's live stream address as getting "only one thousand views online" in what was "another baseless attempt to pose as the winner of the recent elections."
However, Biden's speech aired live on all the major networks and streamed live on dozens of sites. Major news outlets such as ABC News, CBS News and USA Today, had versions of Biden's speech on YouTube each of which had tens of thousands of views by Friday.
REPORT: Biden’s Thanksgiving Day Address gets just 1000 views online, a record low. Observers say a candidate with “80,000,000” votes would get many more online viewers. Numbers don’t lie, or add up! @OANN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2020
It's illogical on so many levels, of course. Biden's speech aired live on all the major networks. It streamed live on dozens of sites. There was no "report" like OANN said. Streams don't equate to votes. Etc etc. Almost no one notices or calls out these lies. pic.twitter.com/rg589ZHRhQ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 27, 2020
CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter tweeted his disdain for the numbers Trump had quoted, saying: "There was no 'report' like OANN said. Streams don't equate to votes. Etc etc. Almost no one notices or calls out these lies." In another tweet, Stelter said: "Source? A random guy's tweet." Newsweek has contacted the White House and OANN for comment.
In his address, Biden struck a conciliatory tone and called for an end to the "grim season of division" ahead of a long winter in which the country will be dealing with the coronavirus.
He said COVID-19 had "brought us pain and loss and frustration" and had "angered us, set us against one another. I know the country's grown weary of the fight, but we need to remember, we're at war with the virus, not one another."
Meanwhile, Trump has been mocked on social media for the size of the desk that he gave a holiday press conference from. The hashtag #DiaperDon trended as social media users referred to the small desk from which he repeated claims of electoral fraud and snapped at a reporter.
During the press conference, Trump was asked whether he would concede the election to Biden if the Electoral College confirmed his election victory. "It's going to be a very hard thing to concede, because we know there was massive fraud," he said, before calling a reporter who interjected a "lightweight" and adding, "don't talk to me that way."
