In his first official briefing as White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer told the press that “our intention is never to lie to you”, but refused to walk back his widely-disputed claim that the inauguration was the most-watched ever “both in-person and around the globe.” “I believe that we have to be honest with the American people. I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts. there are certain things that we may… we may not fully understand when we come out but our intention is never to lie to you,” he said.
Spicer’s comments come two days after he issued multiple falsehoods in his first public appearance before the press on Saturday in a widely-criticized statement re-litigating reporting noting the relatively smaller size of Trump’s inauguration crowd on Friday in comparison to President Obama’s. Spicer upended the traditional order in which reporters were called, opening the briefing with a question to the New York Post.
Typically the legacy news networks and wires are given questions first. But the biggest change to the briefings is still to come. Spicer announced Monday the Trump administration would add four “Skype seats” that would open up the briefing to journalists who live beyond 50 miles of the Washington D.C. area and to organizations that don’t currently have credentials for the White House.
