WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump reacted Sunday to the protests nationwide one day earlier that drew millions of people, wondering “Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.”
Trump posted the comments on his personal Twitter account.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!” the president tweeted.
In a later Tweet he commented on the efforts.
“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy,” he wrote. “Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.”
The protests nationwide highlighted women’s causes and protested Trump’s presidency.
At least 3 million participated in the marches, according to city officials and unofficial estimates reported by The Hill.
According to a Sisters March website, more than 5 million people around the world took to the street on all seven continents in 637 cities around the world.
The idea for the protests began as a Facebook post by a Hawaii grandmother the day after Hillary Clinton‘s loss in November’s election. They called for a “revolution” against the new administration and the Republican-led Congress they fear will roll back reproductive, civil, and human rights.
Half a million people showed up on the National Mall and nearby streets for the Women’s March on Washington, according to city officials.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said nearly 275,000 people packed the capital’s Metro system by 11 a.m., compared with 193,000 trips by the same time for the inauguration. Trump said Saturday that, contrary to news reports, the crowd was “packed” and “went all the way back to the Washington Monument.”
Organizers originally reported 200,000 had signed up for the march in Washington.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said Saturday night that at least 400,000 had protested in Manhattan.
Police officials said more than 100,000 people showed up at Boston Common and an estimated 250,000 in Chicago. But officials in the Midwest city cited safety concerns in canceling the marching portion of the rally after an overflow crowd showed up in Grant Park.
The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t have an estimate yet but said it was the largest protest since a rally for immigration reform in 2006. That march drew an estimated 500,000 people, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the civil rights icon who refused to attend the inauguration last week because he said Trump wasn’t a legitimate president, spoke to a crowd estimated at 60,000 in Atlanta, police officials said.
Here are some other crowd estimates: more than 100,000 in Seattle, Denver and Portland; 90,000 in St. Paul, Minn.; 85,000 in the Bay Area of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose; 50,000 in Philadelphia; 40,000 in San Diego; 20,000 in Houston and Phoenix. Cities with at least 10,000 marchers were Tucson, Sacramento, Kansas City, New Orleans, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, Miami and Olympia, Wash.
The marches were not restricted to women.
Groups included the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, EMILY’s List, Muslim Women’s Alliance, Planned Parenthood and United We Dream.
Crystal Hoyt, an associate dean at the University of Richmond, called “one of the largest and most significant demonstrations for social justice in America’s 240-year history” according to USA Today.
