Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) asked Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R., S.C.), Donald Trump's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, about the size of the president's inaugural crowd during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
The Oregon senator began by framing the nominee as a trustworthy person.
"I wanted to start with where Sen. Cotton was when he was introducing you, which he referred to you as a bold truth teller," Merkley said.
"I have behind me two pictures that were taken at about the same time of day in 2009 and 2017. Which crowd is larger, the 2009 crowd or the 2017 crowd?" Merkley asked, with pictures of President Obama and President Trump's inaugurations behind him.
Clearly puzzled at the relevance of the question, Mulvaney responded, "Senator if you allow me to give the disclaimer that I'm not really sure how this ties to OMB, I'll be happy to answer your question, which was from that picture it does appear that the crowd on the left-hand side is bigger than the crowd on the right hand side."
