Donald Trump never ceases to check the TV ratings. So, read 'em and weep, Donnie.

Compared to President Barack Obama's first address in 2009, Trump's early ratings are down by 17 percent. 

The audience that did tune in was heavily Republican, but the approval ratings were also down.

While the 57% who said they had a very positive reaction to Trump's speech outpaces the marks received by his predecessor for any of his recent State of the Union addresses, they fell below the reviews either Barack Obama or George W. Bush received for either of their initial addresses to Congress. In 2009, 68% had a very positive reaction to Obama, while 66% gave Bush very positive reviews in 2001. 

So Trump’s audience was off by 17 percent and the approval rating from that shrunken audience was down by 11 percent. What have people said about things like this in the very, very recent past?

Time for a little editing.

Wow. the ratings are in and Donald Trump got “swamped” (or ass-kicked) by comparison to the ratings machine, Barack Obama. So much for being a reality TV star.

Though you know what’s going to show up in Trump’s Twitter instead: “Fake News! Everyone watched and it was the biggest audience ever. Everyone loved it. They told me so!”