Donald Trump and press secretary Sean Spicer attack 'shameful' media over inauguration crowd reports

Hatty Collier23 January 2017

Donald Trump marked his first full day in office by attacking the media over its coverage of his inauguration.

The new US president took a swipe at the media over reports about the size of the crowds for his swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

Speaking during a visit to the CIA headquarters, he said his inauguration crowd looked “like a million people” but offered no evidence.

His press secretary Sean Spicer later gave journalists a five-minute tongue lashing over their coverage of Mr Trump during his first 30 hours of presidency.

Donald Trump speaks at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virgina
EPA

Mr Spicer also insisted that no official numbers for the inauguration attendance were available despite news outlets’ reporting that the total audience was approximately 250,000.

During his visit to the CIA headquarters, Mr Trump wrongly claimed that the inaugural throngs on the National Mall stretched "all the way back to the Washington Monument".

White House press secretary Sean Spicer delivers his first statement to the press
EPA

Photos and video clearly showed the crowd stopping well short of the landmark.

Mr Trump told CIA workers: "We had a massive field of people. You saw that. Packed.

"I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks, and they show an empty field. I said, 'Wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was – it looked like a million, a million and a half people!

"It looked honestly – it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument.'

"And I turn on the thing, and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. And it said we drew 250,000 people.

"Now, that's not bad,' Mr Trump continued, 'but it's a lie."

Mr Trump's visit to Langley, Virginia, took place as women, many of them wearing bright pink, pointy-eared hats, descended on the nation's capital and other cities around the world for marches organised against the new president.

People pack the National Mall for the Women's March in Washington
REUTERS

It is thought the attendance at the Women’s March far exceeded the numbers at his inauguration.

Hundreds of protesters lined the motorcade route as Mr Trump sped back to the White House, many screaming and chanting at the president.

The Washington rally alone attracted more than 500,000 people by the unofficial estimate of city officials. It appeared to be more people than attended Mr Trump's inauguration on Friday, but there were no comparable numbers.

Donald Trump Inauguration Day - In pictures

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The city did not release an estimate for the inauguration and the National Park Service does not provide crowd counts.

Shortly after his remarks, he sent his press secretary, Mr Spicer, to the White House briefing room to aggressively reinforce the message.

"There's been a lot of talk in the media about holding Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well," Mr Spicer said in his first on-camera appearance at the White House.

He said: "These attempts to less then enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong."

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