Inauguration of Donald Trump

=== Administration response ===
[[File:Sean Spicer White House statement crowd size 2017-01-21.webm|thumb|thumbtime=34|[[White House Press Secretary]] [[Sean Spicer]] giving Trump administration's statement on crowd size in his January 21 press conference (extract)]]
In a press conference on January 21, [[Sean Spicer]], Trump's [[White House Press Secretary|White House press secretary]], stated that the crowd "was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe", and accused the media of reporting false crowd estimates to "lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration".<ref name="nyt-crowd">{{cite web |first1=Julie |last1=Hirschfeld Davis |first2=Matthew |last2=Rosenberg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html |title=With False Claims, Trump Attacks Media on Turnout and Intelligence Rift |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 21, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314181933/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html |archive-date=March 14, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chiacu |first1=Doina |last2=Lange |first2=Jason |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-priebus-idUSKBN1560RM |title=White House vows to fight media 'tooth and nail' over Trump coverage |work=[[Reuters]] |date=November 22, 2017 |access-date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122145857/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-priebus-idUSKBN1560RM |archive-date=January 22, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="tpm-spicer">{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Catherine|title=Spicer Assails Media For 'Misrepresenting' Inauguration Crow|url=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sean-spicer-assails-media-inauguration-crowd-size|website=[[Talking Points Memo]]|date=January 21, 2017 |access-date=January 22, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123075209/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sean-spicer-assails-media-inauguration-crowd-size|archive-date=January 23, 2017}}</ref> Spicer also stated that 420,000 people rode the Metro on the day of Trump's inauguration, and that only 317,000 rode on the day of Obama's.<ref name="nyt-crowd" /><ref name="tpm-spicer" /> In fact, 570,557 Metro trips were taken on the day of Trump's inauguration, compared to 1.1 million on Obama's 2009 inauguration day and 782,000 on Obama's 2013 inauguration day.<ref name="fortunetransit">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=David |url=https://fortune.com/2017/01/22/dc-transit-statistics-inauguration/ |title=D.C. Transit Stats Show Weak Demand During Trump Inauguration |work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |date=January 22, 2017 |access-date=January 23, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122201524/http://fortune.com/2017/01/22/dc-transit-statistics-inauguration/ |archive-date=January 22, 2017 }}</ref> Ridership at 11 a.m. was 193,000, 513,000 and 317,000 respectively.<ref name="fortunetransit" />

Numerous sources highlighted the fact that Spicer's statements were incorrect, and many accused him of intentionally misstating the figures.<ref name="nyt-crowd" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/sean-spicer-inauguration-statement-lies |title=Trump Spokesman Sean Spicer's Lecture on Media Accuracy Is Peppered With Lies |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=January 21, 2017 |access-date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122055956/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/sean-spicer-inauguration-statement-lies |archive-date=January 22, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/22/spicer-earns-four-pinocchios-for-a-series-of-false-claims-on-inauguration-crowd-size/ |title=Spicer earns Four Pinocchios for false claims on inauguration crowd size |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122170413/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/01/22/spicer-earns-four-pinocchios-for-a-series-of-false-claims-on-inauguration-crowd-size/ |archive-date=January 22, 2017 }}</ref> In response, Donald Trump's counselor and spokesperson, [[Kellyanne Conway]], in an interview with NBC's [[Chuck Todd]], stated that Spicer merely presented "[[alternative facts]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Jaffe |first=Alexandra |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/wh-spokesman-gave-alternative-facts-inauguration-crowd-n710466 |title=Kellyanne Conway: WH Spokesman Gave 'Alternative Facts' on Inauguration Crowd |work=[[NBC News]] |access-date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122161236/http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/wh-spokesman-gave-alternative-facts-inauguration-crowd-n710466 |archive-date=January 22, 2017 }}</ref> Todd responded by saying "alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods."<ref>{{cite web |last=Blake |first=Aaron |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/22/kellyanne-conway-says-donald-trumps-team-has-alternate-facts-which-pretty-much-says-it-all/ |title=Kellyanne Conway says Donald Trump's team has 'alternative facts.' Which pretty much says it all. |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202053741/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/22/kellyanne-conway-says-donald-trumps-team-has-alternate-facts-which-pretty-much-says-it-all/ |archive-date=February 2, 2017 }}</ref>

On January 23, Spicer admitted his error concerning WMATA ridership levels, stating that he was relying on statistics given to him, but he stood by his claim that the inauguration was the most-viewed, stating he also included online viewership in addition to in-person and television in his estimates.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Grynbaum | first1=Michael M. | title=Sean Spicer, Trump's Press Secretary, Reboots His Relationship With the Press | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/business/media/sean-spicer-trump-press-secretary.html | date=January 23, 2017 | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date=January 24, 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124080831/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/business/media/sean-spicer-trump-press-secretary.html | archive-date=January 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=Berger | first1=Judson | title=Spicer Changes Up Format at WH Briefings, Moves to Hit Reset with Press | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/23/spicer-changes-up-format-at-wh-briefings-moves-to-hit-reset-with-press.html | date=January 23, 2017 | publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] | access-date=January 24, 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124004825/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/23/spicer-changes-up-format-at-wh-briefings-moves-to-hit-reset-with-press.html | archive-date=January 24, 2017}}</ref> Spicer's claim of the largest audience ever was still shown inaccurate as Nielsen reported 30.6 million viewers across 12 networks while Obama had 37.8 million and Ronald Reagan 41.8 million.<ref name="Tampa Bay Times">{{cite web|last1=Qiu|first1=Linda|title=Donald Trump had biggest inaugural crowd ever? Metrics don't show it|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/21/sean-spicer/trump-had-biggest-inaugural-crowd-ever-metrics-don/ |website=[[PolitiFact]]|publisher=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=February 7, 2017 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205200625/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/21/sean-spicer/trump-had-biggest-inaugural-crowd-ever-metrics-don/|archive-date=February 5, 2017}}</ref> As for online viewership, Spicer himself cited a figure of 16.9 million livestreams provided by CNN. However, CNN served nearly 27 million streams in 2009 for Obama's inauguration.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sutter |first1=John |title=Online inauguration videos set records |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/ |website=[[CNN]]|access-date=June 27, 2021}}</ref> CNN reported in 2009 that 7.7 million people watched the inauguration online, while nearly 27 million watched streaming video of any sort on CNN's website on that day.<ref name="CNN 2009">{{cite web|title=Online inauguration videos set records|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/|publisher=[[CNN]]|author=John D. Sutter|date=January 21, 2009|access-date=March 23, 2020|archive-date=March 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323062031/https://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/|url-status=live}}</ref> NBC's livestream on YouTube of Trump's inauguration in 2017 accumulated over 8 million views within a day.<ref name="NBC YT1">{{cite news|title=The 58th Presidential Inauguration of Donald J. Trump - LIVE Friday, January 20, 2017 {{pipe}} NBC News|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prd2RfhF1tM|date=January 20, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170120083821/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prd2RfhF1tM|archive-date = January 20, 2017}}</ref><ref name="NBC YT2">{{cite news|title=The 58th Presidential Inauguration of Donald J. Trump (Full Video) {{pipe}} NBC News |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prd2RfhF1tM|date=January 21, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170121084559/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prd2RfhF1tM|archive-date = January 21, 2017}}</ref>

The incoming administration briefly shut down the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]]'s Twitter accounts.<ref name="ReinTwitter" /> The [[National Park Service]]'s official Twitter account had re-tweeted two Tweets on "omissions on policy areas" on the White House website and Trump's and Obama's crowd sizes.<ref name="ReinTwitter">{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Rein |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/20/interior-department-banned-from-twitter-after-retweet-of-smaller-than-usual-trump-inauguration-crowd/ |title=Interior Department reactivates Twitter accounts after shutdown following inauguration |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 21, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123052729/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/20/interior-department-banned-from-twitter-after-retweet-of-smaller-than-usual-trump-inauguration-crowd/ |archive-date=January 23, 2017 }}</ref> An NPS spokesman issued an apology for "mistaken RTs".<ref name="ReinTwitter" />

On the morning following the inauguration, Trump telephoned acting [[National Park Service]] director Michael T. Reynolds and personally directed him to produce additional aerial photographs of the Inauguration Day crowds.<ref name="TumultyEilperin">Karen Tumulty & Juliet Eilperin, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pressured-park-service-to-back-up-his-claims-about-inauguration-crowd/2017/01/26/12a38cb8-e3fc-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html Trump pressured Park Service to find proof for his claims about inauguration crowd] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131020024/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pressured-park-service-to-back-up-his-claims-about-inauguration-crowd/2017/01/26/12a38cb8-e3fc-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html |date=January 31, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (January 26, 2017).</ref><ref>Michael D. Shear & Maggie Haberman, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/us/politics/trump-inauguration-crowd-size-park-chief.html Trump Called National Park Chief Over Twitter Post on Inaugural Crowd] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131110038/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/us/politics/trump-inauguration-crowd-size-park-chief.html |date=January 31, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' (January 26, 2017).</ref> Reynolds and the Park Service complied with the directive; the additional photos, however, "did not prove Trump's contention that the crowd size was upward of 1 million."<ref name="TumultyEilperin"/> In September 2018, documents released from a Freedom of Information Act request showed that Reynolds and the National Park Service cropped photos of the inauguration, at the direction of the President, in an attempt to make the crowd size seem larger.<ref name="guardian2" />