White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held the first press conference of the Trump administration on Saturday afternoon after making reporters wait for more than an hour.
Shouting toward the press pool, Spicer accused the media of falsely portraying Trump’s inauguration crowd size, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Spicer argued that the crowds seemed smaller due to a multitude of false reasons, including claiming that the inaugural committee placed tarps on the grass, but had never done so before (there is photographic evidence of tarps at other inaugurations), therefore making the space look emptier.
Spicer also said that magnetometers and checkpoints were placed in several locations, slowing the flow of attendees. Secret Service later refuted that claim, saying that no magnetometers had been used at the Mall.
Spicer also claimed that the media could have no estimates on crowd attendance, before claiming that Trump’s inauguration was the most-watched of any in history, “period.”
He then yelled at the press and told them that they should be spending their time reporting on other issues, before storming off-camera without answering a single question from the pool.
The issue with all of this is that this isn’t some thug from a campaign lying to the American people, it is the White House openly and deliberately lying to the nation.
It may seem like a small thing to fight about, but if Spicer and the White House will lie about something as clear as Trump’s inauguration attendance, we can only imagine what else they will lie about.
Precedent has been set.
