On Saturday night, White House press secretary Sean Spicer delivered his first news conference in the James S. Brady press briefing room at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Except that he used the occasion to yell at the media and take no questions from them.
It was the most inauspicious of beginnings to what was already a deeply fraught relationship between the Trump administration and the journalists assigned to cover him. And it was a telling sign of just how much Spicer — and the rest of the White House staff — will be required to publicly address perceived grudges and slights against the sitting president of the United States.
.. He then offered explanations for the crowd size — each of which was incorrect:
1) This was the first time in history white plastic had been laid on the Mall to protect the grass. Nope!
2) This was the first time magnetometers had been used in the inauguration proceedings. Nope!
3) More people had used the Metro — D.C.’s subway — at the Trump inauguration than had used it for President Obama’s second inaugural. Nope!
.. But Spicer wasn’t done! He went on to note that “no one had numbers” about the crowd size just before offering up a detailed assessment of just how many people can fit into each section of the Mall and, therefore, why there were far more people in attendance than the media reported.
Trump’s Choice for White House Communications Aide Withdraws
Jason Miller says he won’t take the job in order to spend more time with family
Though Mr. Trump’s practice has been to disparage the press at rallies, in Mr. Miller he had elevated someone who largely took a less-confrontational, more traditional approach in dealings with reporters.
.. Mr. Miller said his duties as communications director will be handled by incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Hope Hicks, the campaign press secretary, will serve as director of strategic communications and Dan Scavino will serve as the director of social media.
Sean Spicer Says Donald Trump Is A ‘Champion’ Of First Amendment
“He’s going to be very forceful, but he understands the role of the press,” Spicer said.
Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s pick for press secretary, rushed to his new boss’ defense on Friday, contending that the president-elect is a “champion” of First Amendment rights.
“I mean look at his use of the First Amendment, he loves the First Amendment,” Spicer said with a laugh on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Many have expressed concern that Trump is intent on weakening the First Amendment due to his assaults on the “dishonest media,” cries many of his supporters have echoed.
Trump blacklisted nearly a dozen news organizations from his rallies by the end of his campaign, and he promised to “open up our libel laws” so it would be easier to sue news outlets.