Donald Trump claims 1.5MILLION people watched him sworn in – and berates media ‘lies’ over reports just 250,000 showed up
DONALD Trump launched a bizarre attack on the media last night for reporting small crowds at his inauguration - claiming it only LOOKED that way because the grass was covered by protective mats.
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.
Later White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer accused the press of false reporting for publishing photos that show there were fewer people than at Obama's inauguration in 2009.
He said: "Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting.
"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."
And he claimed: "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.
"These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong."
He then left the podium and refused to answer any of the reporters' questions.
But reported similar ground coverings were used on the Mall during President Obama's 2013 inauguration, which was more heavily attended.
And 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."
Trump wrongly told the CIA today that the crowd had stretched all the way to the Washington Monument in the middle of the National Mall.
Photos taken of the Mall on Friday showed large swathes of empty space compared to Barack Obama's inauguration eight years ago.
Trump says the inauguration crowd looked to be about a million and a half people.
"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."