Donald Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s bizarre defence of White House claims that Trump pulled biggest inauguration crowd of all time
Press secretary Sean Spicer says the media lied about attendance, despite clear evidence to the contrary
A DONALD Trump adviser has bizarrely said the administration's claims his inauguration was the most well attended in history are 'alternative facts'.
White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway was defending press secretary Sean Spicer's charges on Saturday that the media had engaged in "false reporting" of photos of the National Mall showing smaller crowds at the event.
He insisted during his first press briefing that Trump's inauguration crowd was larger than any president's before - despite clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Conway was repeatedly questioned about Spicer's "provable falsehood" by Chuck Todd on Meet The Press.
She angrily responded: "We feel compelled to go out and clear the air and put alternative facts out there."
"Alternative facts are not facts, they’re falsehoods," he replied.
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The phrase quickly went viral, with many Twitter users presenting lies as #alternativefacts - and even the Merriam-Webster dictionary account put the boot in by providing the definition of the word 'fact'.
Several of Spicer's statements about Friday's turnout were challenged in photographs and media reports that cited crowd count experts. His categorical assertion that "this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration - period" in particular was mocked on social media as well.
"Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," he said.
"This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass at the Mall.
"This had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual."
“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period,” he brazenly told the White House press corps.
On his first full day as president, Trump said he had a "running war" with the media and accused journalists of underestimating the number of people who turned out Friday for his swearing-in.
The new president insisted there were "a million and a half" people stretching from the US Capitol to the Washington Monument, despite other estimates of around 250,000.
And according to figures shared by the Metro Washington subway system on Twitter, 193,000 trips had been taken by 11am on Donald Trump’s inauguration day, compared with 513,000 during the same period on the day Barack Obama took office.
He said: "We had a massive field of people, packed. I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and there's an empty field. I made a speech I looked out. It looked like a million, a million and a half people.
"We caught them, and we caught them in a beauty and they're going to pay a big price."
A fact check by respected news agency Associated Press states: "Trump is wrong.
"Photos of the National Mall from his inauguration make clear that the crowd did not extend to the Washington Monument. Large swathes of empty space are visible on the Mall.
"Thin crowds and partially empty bleachers (seats) also dotted the inaugural parade route.
"Hotels across the District of Columbia reported vacancies, a rarity for an event as large as a presidential inauguration.
"And ridership on the Washington's Metro system didn't match that of recent inaugurations. As of 11am. that day, there were 193,000 trips taken, according to the transit service's Twitter account.
"At the same hour eight years ago, there had been 513,000 trips. Four years later, there were 317,000 for Obama's second inauguration."