In an unusual and fiery statement on Saturday night, White House spokesman Sean Spicer lashed out about tweeted photographs that showed large, empty spaces on the National Mall during the ceremony on Friday.
“This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe,” Spicer said in a brief statement. “These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm about the inauguration are shameful and wrong.”
Spicer, who did not take questions from reporters, said spaces for 720,000 people were full when Trump took his oath.
Obviously the media outlets and Twitterati weren’t going to take it lying down and they released photos of just how many people were there at the inauguration:


The photos of Donald Trump’s inauguration compared with Barack Obama’s speak for themselves: https://t.co/uCUnb99zVX pic.twitter.com/AhtMEzrFFh
— Vox (@voxdotcom) January 21, 2017
Kellyanne Conway: Crowd size at Pres. Donald Trump’s inauguration ‘was historic’ considering projections and rain. https://t.co/bEMMhOVD19 pic.twitter.com/AzZFvDoFlP
— ABC News (@ABC) January 23, 2017
Trump’s inauguration had the largest crowd ever… in Russia #SpicerFacts pic.twitter.com/brdapSTQih
— Mr. Jameson Neat (@MrJamesonNeat) January 22, 2017
Comparing President Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd to the #WomensMarch https://t.co/5rS0L4tc3v pic.twitter.com/ZZxDTtJP04
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 22, 2017