Liberal pundits compared President Donald Trump to a cult leader, invoked racism, and criticized first lady Melania Trump’s fashion during the 47th president’s inauguration Monday.
CBS News host Gayle King said she was "fascinated" by the crowd’s racial breakdown inside the Capitol rotunda, where the inauguration was held due to frigid temperatures in Washington, D.C. Her co-host noted the ceremony coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I’m looking at this crowd. I do not see many people of color. Does anybody else besides me observe that? I’m fascinated by why that is," King said minutes before Trump was sworn in.
CNN anchor Dana Bash, meanwhile, described the ceremony’s "intimate" atmosphere as "cringe."
"Because it’s inside and so intimate, you can almost kind of feel a little bit of the cringe there inside," the CNN host said.
Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance were sworn in Monday after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota governor Tim Walz in the November election. The 47th president, in his address, promised to guide the United States through a "golden age" and declared that "America’s decline is over." He also offered a vision of safer cities, a stronger economy, and territorial expansion—including to Mars.
MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized Trump for describing his expansion ambitions as part of America’s "manifest destiny." Reid said the 19th century movement, the belief that the United States was destined to expand west, was "one of the most racist concepts in the history of America."
Before the ceremony, Reid noted that billionaire tech CEOs like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk were in attendance.
"Ensuring they’re not chilly, they’re all there without their coats, without their overcoats on, to make sure that they’re comfortable," Reid said. "One mustn’t allow the super wealthy to be cold."
Reid's MSNBC co-host Rachel Maddow, meanwhile, described the attendance of world leaders like Argentine president Javier Milei as "not a normal thing."
After the ceremony, MSNBC host Chris Hayes weighed in on Trump’s 30-minute Inaugural Address, which focused on an optimistic path forward.
"It’s a little like a cult leader who keeps predicting different days for the end of the world," Hayes said.
New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman scrutinized Melania Trump’s outfit.
"It’s more a royal family governess than necessarily American First Lady," she said of the former model’s attire. CNN’s Anderson Cooper chuckled in response.
Friedman later named Jacqueline Kennedy and Michelle Obama as some of the most fashionable first ladies.