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Trump is using targeted Facebook ads to woo more people to his inauguration party

Trump is using targeted Facebook ads to woo more people to his inauguration party

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Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s inauguration is only days away, but it appears that his team is getting desperate to live up to the the “unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout,” he promised in The New York Times. The president-elect now has targeted Facebook ads to help coax people to his party, Gothamist reports.

This isn’t the first time the Trump campaign tried its hand at targeted Facebook ads, though previously they were focused on voter suppression. The Tonight Show’s Marina Cockenberg posted about the inauguration ads on Twitter, which explain that Trump is attempting to lure New Yorkers ages 27 or older to his party.

The video can be found on Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s Facebook page and features Trump inviting people to the Lincoln Memorial on January 19th. People who sign up will receive commemorative tickets that are not required for admittance “as a keepsake to frame,” which sounds about as useful as one of those inaugural membership cards.

Another Twitter user, digital strategist Laura Olin who worked on both the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns, claims to continue getting emails about inauguration tickets even after unsubscribing from Trump’s mailing list.

Trump said over the weekend that his inauguration "is turning out to be even bigger than expected." So far, his top-name bookings include Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down, and Angelina Jolie’s dad. (A Springsteen cover band was scheduled to perform, but backed out days before the event.)

The latest estimates place attendees in the 700,000–900,000 range, though that number may rise if you account for protestors. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, drew in a crowd of 1.8 million people in 2009.