White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stood by his assertion Monday that President Trump’s inauguration audience was the largest in history, citing online and television viewership amid controversy over whether Spicer had misrepresented the number of people who tuned into the ceremonies.
“I don’t think there’s any question that it was the largest-watched inauguration ever,” Spicer said Monday during his first official briefing at the White House.
“I’d love to see any information that proves that otherwise,” he said, pointing to the 31 million people who viewed the inauguration on television and the millions more who watched it online.
During an appearance in the White House briefing room Saturday, Spicer said: “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe. Spicer clarified Monday that by “both in person and around the globe,” he meant that he was combining the crowd on the National Mall with those watching on TV and on electronic devices that have proliferated in the last eight years.
Spicer had suffered criticism for some of his claims Saturday. The White House spokesman had cited, as an example, ridership numbers from the D.C. metro that were later disputed.
Spicer said he had believed those numbers to be correct at the time.
“That wasn’t like we made them up out of thin air,” he said.
Spicer defended his integrity.
“Our intention is never to lie to you,” Spicer said. “There are times when you guys tweet something out [or] write a story and you publish a correction; that doesn’t mean that you were intentionally trying to deceive readers or the American people.”
Spicer expressed his desire to maintain a “healthy relationship” with the press.
