Politics

White House spokesman Sean Spicer gives first official press conference

Spicer: We didn't make up numbers out of thin air
VIDEO2:3002:30
Spicer: We didn't make up numbers out of thin air

White House spokesman Sean Spicer gave his first "official" press conference of the Trump administration Monday afternoon.

"I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts," Spicer said. "Our intention is never to lie to you."

Spicer's appearance before the White House press corps is his first after blasting reporters on Saturday evening over what he called "deliberately false reporting" by some media outlets about the size of crowds at President Donald Trump's inauguration the prior day.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds the daily press briefing January 23, 2017 at the White House in Washington, DC.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images

"Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall," Spicer fumed that day.

He went on to claim that "this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe." Spicer left that short press briefing without answering any questions.

Spicer's claims were undercut by timestamped aerial photos showing much sparser crowds on the Mall during Trump's inauguration than the crowds that gathered for Barack Obama's swearing-in as president in 2009.

Washington, D.C.'s transit system also reported lower ridership on the system in comparison to Obama's first inauguration.