News
Joe Vesey-Byrne
Jan 22, 2017
President Donald Trump 2017 Supporters TV/YouTube
Sean Spicer the White House Press Secretary used his first news conference to call out the media for inaccurate reporting.
White House Press Secretaries have an honorary flack jacket passed down to one another, as an embodiment of the metaphorical live fire they walk through in daily briefings to the media.
Sean Spicer may soon be able to relate to the metaphor.
He walked into a new job, one which he hopes to hold for at least four years, and used his first news conference to tell every new colleague they were unethical and bad at their jobs.
On his first day in the job, in his first press conference on behalf of the Trump Administration, Sean Spicer went after "the media" for what he claimed was inaccurate reporting of the inauguration.
On Saturday Spicer claimed the media had engaged in "false reporting" of the turnout.
Photographs of inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way in one particular tweet to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall.
This was not the case.
Spicer claimed that "magnetometers" kept inauguration crowds off the National Mall (they didn't), that new ground covering technology made the empty spaces visible from overhead shots seem more sparce (they didn't, that's not technically possible) and Spicer concluded that:
This was the largest audience to ever witness the inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.
Spicer also used figures from WMATA, Washington DC's public transportation system. He said that:
We know that 420,000 people used D.C. Metro public transit yesterday, which compares to 317,000 that used it for President Obama's last inaugural.
The WMATA told the Washington Post that 570, 557 trips were made on the Metro system between 4.a.m and midnight on Friday.
In 2009 and 2013 at the inaugurations of president Obama, the figures were 1.1 million and 782,000.
The basic but reliable system of comparing overhead shots also show his statements were ludicrous.
To add to their embarrassment, the crowds for the Women's March on Washington DC were reported as much larger, filling the National Mall with at least 80,000 participants.
Spicer also incorrectly referred to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as "prime minister".
It's going to be a long four years.
HT New York Times, Wired
More:Susanna Reid shuts down Piers Morgan over his ridiculous 'Men's March'
More: We have been honered with another unpresidented message from Donald Trump
Top 100
The Conversation (0)
x