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***Official*** Sean Spicer (1 Viewer)

From Politico.com

Sean Spicer told at least 5 untruths in 5 minutes
By KYLE CHENEY and DAN DIAMOND 01/21/17 10:06 PM EST Updated 01/22/17 12:51 PM EST
In his first post-inauguration news conference Saturday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer immediately accused reporters of making inaccurate claims.

He then proceeded to make no fewer than four inaccurate claims in five minutes and 30 seconds of speaking, took no questions, and left.

Here they are.

1. "This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual."

Actually, 2013 was the first time a special floor covering was installed to protect the grass on the National Mall. The Washington Post reported shortly before the second Obama inauguration that officials placed “several acres of a special plastic flooring.”

Getty Images includes in its archives an image of workers laying the flooring just ahead of Obama’s swearing-in that year. And other reporters dredged up their own photos from 2013 that revealed the protective covering.

2. "All of this space [from Trump’s platform to the Washington Monument] was full when the president took the Oath of Office."

This photograph, taken during Trump’s inaugural address and published by CNN, shows considerable crowd gaps between the Capitol and the Washington Monument on the National Mall. To believe the area was full when Trump took the oath, one would have to believe the watchers left en masse in the minutes between the oath and the speech.

3. "We know that 420,000 people used the D.C. Metro public transit yesterday, which actually compares to 317,000 that used it for President Obama's last inaugural."

On Friday, the D.C. Metro published ridership statistics for the past four inauguration days. The figures go up until 11 a.m., presumably on the assumption that riders using the system after that are unlikely to be attending the noon-time ceremony.

Spicer is correct that, per Metro, there were 317,000 trips taken before 11 a.m. in 2013, “President Obama’s last inaugural.” But by that metric, the 2017 figure would be 193,000 — less than half of the 420,000 Spicer claimed.

In terms of full-day ridership, Metro told The Washington Post that riders took 570,557 trips Friday. But by that metric, Spicer is wrong about Inauguration Day 2013, when there were 782,000 trips taken. On Inauguration Day 2009, per the Post, that figure hit 1.1 million.

4. "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe."

While the new administration disputes the count, the visual evidence from overhead photography is overwhelming: Far more people stood on the Mall and witnessed Obama’s inauguration in 2009 than Trump’s inauguration on Friday.

The global viewing audience is nearly impossible to calculate, but at least four previous presidents drew bigger domestic TV audiences than Trump. According to Nielsen ratings, 30.6 million viewers tuned in across 12 networks to watch Trump’s inauguration. That falls well short of the 41.8 million viewers who watched Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration, the 37.7 million who watched Obama’s 2009 inauguration, the 34.1 million who watched Jimmy Carter’s 1977 inauguration and the 33 million who watched Richard Nixon’s 1973 inauguration.

Millions of viewers also tuned in for livestreams of Trump’s inauguration, and CNN says that there were 16.9 million livestreams on its site and apps across the day. But Obama’s 2009 inauguration drew then-record online audiences, with CNN reporting more than 25 million livestreams across the day — and so much demand during Obama’s speech that many viewers were shunted to online waiting rooms.

Update: Spicer's fifth falsehood was confirmed by multiple sources Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

5. "This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past."

Spicer said enhanced security techniques had delayed inauguration attendees from taking their places as early as they had in years past. But the U.S. Secret Service told The New York Times that security measures were largely unchanged. CNN reporter Robert Acosta tweeted that the Secret Service told him they were not — contrary to what Spicer said — using magnetometers.


ETA: Added links.

 
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Such an odd thing to try and spin.  If you're planning on doing this job for 4-8 years, why use political capital trying to argue the attendance of the inauguration?

It's such an easy answer too: "Sean, what are your thoughts on the decline in attendance for President Trump's inauguration?"

Spencer: "We're very proud of the support we were shown in person and on TV.  The weather didn't cooperate, but thousands witnessed the changing of the guard and we're grateful for their support."

Bam, done.  Next issue.

 
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He looks like he could be Roger Goodell's little, less successful brother Billy. Like he was so ashamed of being Billy Goodell, in Roger's shadow, that he changed his name to Sean Spicer. Trump woulda bought it too. 

 
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The longest-serving press secretary was Steve Early, who worked for President Franklin Roosevelt for 12 years, from March 1933 until March 1945. (He left the post shortly before Roosevelt died.) Only five other press secretaries served for the entirety of their boss’ stay in the White House: James Hagerty, who served under Dwight Eisenhower; Pierre Salinger for John Kennedy; Ronald Ziegler for Richard Nixon; Jody Powell, for Jimmy Carter; and, Marlin Fitzwater, who had the job during Ronald Reagan’s last two years in office and afterwards was the sole press secretary for George H.W. Bush

 
Such an odd thing to try and spin.  If you're planning on doing this job for 4-8 years, why use political capital trying to argue the attendance of the inauguration?

It's such an easy answer too: "Sean, what are your thoughts on the decline in attendance for President Trump's inauguration?"

Spencer: "We're very proud of the support we were shown in person and on TV.  The weather didn't cooperate, but thousands witnessed the changing of the guard and we're grateful for their support."

Bam, done.  Next issue.
I don't think Mr. Sphincter had a say. He was likely given a statemtnt to read. 

 
Another interesting angle here is that supposedly Trump said Spence did an awful job at the presser. Trump didn't want Spence, he wanted Conway. Spence was a Preibus pick. Who knows how many levels this is on.

 
Another interesting angle here is that supposedly Trump said Spence did an awful job at the presser. Trump didn't want Spence, he wanted Conway. Spence was a Preibus pick. Who knows how many levels this is on.
Come on.  We're smart enough to know that Trump is just trying to play the straight man here, right?  That rant is vintage Trump.

 
Come on.  We're smart enough to know that Trump is just trying to play the straight man here, right?  That rant is vintage Trump.
When all is set and done, he's going to write a memoir of his time as press secretary that will sound like a kind of hostage crisis. 

They hurt me, they yelled, they screamed, they threatened my family, they told me that I was nothing without them and that they would destroy my career if I ever crossed them, I was just so scared, felt so alone, was so ashamed and then, then, they made me eat Dippin' Dots after sewing my five-hole shut  and they kept feeding me and feeding me

 
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Come on.  We're smart enough to know that Trump is just trying to play the straight man here, right?  That rant is vintage Trump.
I know it's a Trump rant. I'm just saying I don't think Trump is above embarrassing someone he doesn't like.

 
Earlier this month, Spicer spoke with former President Obama senior advisor David Axelrod about communications strategy, and Spicer said "the one thing, whether you're Republican or Democrat or independent, is that you have your integrity."

"I have never lied," Spicer said, adding, "If you lose the respect and trust of the press corps you've got nothing."
link

 
My wife just found out this moron graduated from her alma mater, a historically liberal school.  There has been an outpouring of condemnation and a call not to publish anything about him in any alumni mags. 

 
So he's not going to call on CNN, WaPo, NYT, etc? Interesting. 
I don't have a particular problem with this.  Those guys are pretty smart.  As long as they're allowed in the room, they'll figure out how to get their question answered.  Completely banning them is over the line IMO.  I also look forward to this idiot's attempt to legitimize breitbart and the national enquirer as legit news sources.

 
I don't have a particular problem with this.  Those guys are pretty smart.  As long as they're allowed in the room, they'll figure out how to get their question answered.  Completely banning them is over the line IMO.  I also look forward to this idiot's attempt to legitimize breitbart and the national enquirer as legit news sources.
I assume that is why they are doing the Skype thing. 

 

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