Donald Trump: Press Lying About Inauguration Crowd Size
Welcome to Breitbart News’s third day of inauguration coverage. President Donald Trump attended a multi-faith inaugural prayer service this morning and then delivered remarks at the CIA headquarters “to thank the men and women of the intelligence community.” Meanwhile, women’s rights and left-wing activists took to the streets in Washington, D.C. and in “sister marches” around the world to protest the election of President Trump the day after his inauguration.
All times eastern.
10:1o PM:
Donald Trump: Press Lying About Inauguration Crowd Size
President Donald Trump told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday that he is engaged in "a running war" with the "dishonest media," noting that their latest lies include misleading reports about the size of the crowd at his swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMBqDN7-QLg"And the reason you're my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth," Trump said.
The approximately 400 CIA employees broke out into applause after Trump said this.
In addition to making it seem, falsely, like he was in a feud with the intelligence community, Trump said the media "showed an empty field" during his inauguration.
"We had a massive field of people. You saw that, packed," Trump said. He then noted that when he woke up Saturday morning, he turned on the TV and noticed, "I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was, it looked like a million -- a million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, 'Donald Trump did not draw well.'"
He added, "We have something that's amazing because we had it looked -- honestly, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. And I turn on [the tv], and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field."
"So, we caught them," he said. "And we caught them in a beauty, and I think they're going to pay a big price."
Trump went on to note yet another lie perpetuated by the media. Specifically, Zeke Miller of Time magazine falsely reported that Trump removed the bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. The bust of the esteemed, late civil rights leader was never removed.
(President Barack Obama had removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after he moved in and replaced it with MLK Jr.'s).
"In the Oval Office, there's a beautiful statue of Dr. Martin Luther King," Trump said. "And, I also happen to like Churchill... He doesn't come from our country, but had a lot do with it. He helped us, real ally." Trump had requested that Churchill's bust be replaced in the Oval Office upon his move into the White House.
"But there was a cameraman that was right in front of it. So Zeke, Zeke from Time Magazine" wrote a fake news story, Trump said. "I would never do that. I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was right there. But this is how dishonest the media is."
Trump added, "I love honesty. I like honest reporting."
And finally, he told the CIA, "I love you. I respect you. There's nobody I respect more. you're going to do a fantastic job. And we are going to start winning again, and you are going to lead the charge. Thank you. I'll be back."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also pointed out the lies perpetuated by the media during his emergency press conference Saturday.
"Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," Spicer said. "Photographs of the Inauguration proceeding were intentionally framed in a way to minimize the enormous support it had gathered on the National Mall," he said.
He noted earlier how Miller of Time magazine "falsely tweeted out that the bust of MLK, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. "This was just plain wrong."
7:20 PM:
WH Press Secretary Sean Spicer Blasts Media’s ‘Deliberately False Reporting’
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held an emergency press briefing on Saturday where he lit into the media for their "egregious" and "deliberately false reporting" of Friday's inauguration of President Donald Trump and his first day in office.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8llFHHAkGcw"Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," Spicer said. He explained that one reporter "falsely tweeted out that the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed form the Oval Office... This was just plain wrong."
The false report, which Spicer described as "irresponsible and reckless," came from TIME magazine pool reporter Zeke Miller:
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/822620050653937664 https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/822621420370935813 https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/822622287312617473 Spicer further noted that the media had attempted to paint Trump's inauguration as appearing much smaller than President Barack Obama's."Photographs of the Inauguration proceeding were intentionally framed in a way to minimize the enormous support it had gathered on the National Mall," Spicer said. He added, it was the first time in the nation's history that white floor coverings had been used to protect the grass and that they amplified empty spaces, whereas the grass had minimized the appearance of spaces in the past.
"Inaccurate numbers regarding crowd size were also tweeted," Spicer said. "No one had numbers, because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall does not put any out." He said this also applies to any attempts to count the numbers of protesters during the "Women's March" on Saturday.
"There's been a lot of talk in the media about holding President Trump accountable. Well, I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable as well. The American people deserve better," Spicer said. "And as long as he serves as the messenger of this incredible movement, he will take this message directly to the American people where his focus will always be."
Spicer's criticism of the media's fake news reporting resulted in a media meltdown on social media.
MSNBC correspondent Joy-Ann Reid called Spicer "the new Baghdad Bob."
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/822941574296469505 Left-wing Think Progress's Judd Legum suggested Spicer had "torched his credibility" for confronting the media's misreporting with the truth: https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/822943103254429696 Naturally, other media figures from the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Salon also complained: https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/822942280269131780 https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/822938183226851329 https://twitter.com/Milbank/status/822943683867738113 https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/822942631667843073 https://twitter.com/joanwalsh/status/8229370697355960325:32 PM:
Anti-Trump Women Marchers Threaten to Never Leave Washington, DC
Marching around without any clear direction, mission or destination -- and without any clearly stated goal -- the anti-Trump women marchers in downtown Washington, DC, threatened to never leave the nation's capital as they protest newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
"We won't go away, welcome to your first day," women marchers chanted near the White House.
It's ironic that they're threatening to never leave, since many of the protesters are actually leaving tomorrow or the next day after having been bussed in from around the country and even from Canada.
For them to actually stay and occupy Washington, D.C., would cost millions per day--an unrealistic possibility. It's much more likely these protesters are going to catch their bus or their flight home in the next day or so and depart the national political stage without gaining any real ground.
Part of the reason for their looming irrelevancy was evident in the disorganized nature of the march--which was actually more of a giant gathering downtown. Protesters did not have a clear message of what they were asking for--other than venting anger at the fact Donald Trump is the duly elected and inaugurated president of the United States--and did not even march in a coordinated way in any particular direction throughout DC other than to just wander around in groups of a few hundred chanting one thing or another like the aforementioned threat to never leave or another age old Democratic Party protester chant "This is what Democracy looks like."
Sure, celebrities like Madonna and Ashley Judd and top Democrats like newly elected California Sen. Kamala Harris joined in with speeches; but the largely incoherent message that asks for nothing reasonable--the only thing they seem to be demanding is that President Trump go away, something that will not happen--leaves the women marchers against Trump leaving Washington empty handed.
4:48 PM:
3:11 PM: Good to note that while this strange affair is happening — with Madonna dropping f-bombs and dancing around like the aging “fairground stripper” Elton John once accused her of being, Ashley Judd spewing vile accusations of incest, and Michael Moore bellowing about “Trump carnage” — the Trump and Pence families quietly and reverently attended church today and then the president met with the CIA.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 21: U.S. President Donald Trump stands with his wife first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and his wife Karen Pence. during the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
3:02 PM: Breitbart’s Dr. Susan Berry reports:
The tens of thousands of women marching in the anti-Trump Women’s March on Washington demonstration in Washington, D.C., Saturday are “mostly white” and experiencing “therapy” for their anxiety over Hillary Clinton’s election loss to Donald Trump in November, the Washington Post reports.
Read the rest here.
2:53 PM:
2:28 PM: A number of news media outlets are reporting on the numbers at the anti-Trump protest crowd, speculating that it might be bigger than the inauguration crowd the day before. No hard numbers are available yet. But it’s useful to remember what Breitbart’s Daniel Flynn noted yesterday when he wrote:
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow juxtaposed Barack Obama’s inauguration boasting people as far as the eye can see with Trump’s crowd failing to extend to the Washington Monument. She didn’t mention that Washington, D.C., favored Mrs. Clinton over Mr. Trump 91 percent to four percent on Election Day. Nor did she speak of the local welcome wagon, which on Inauguration Eve gored Trump supporters with flagpoles and read “Make America Great Again” on hats as “Please Throw a Battery at Me.” Sometimes watching at home is the better part of valor.
2:10 PM: Actress Ashley Judd grotesquely accused President Trump of incest, claiming that he has “wet dreams” about his own daughter. Video of her remarks are here. So much for “When they go low…”
2:05 PM: Photo from Breitbart’s Raheem Kassam below. These folks aren’t the “picking up after yourselves” types like the Tea Party members who famously left the Mall in DC cleaner than they found it in 2010 during the Restoring Honor Rally.
2:04 PM:
America Ferrera at Anti-Trump Women’s March: ‘Platform of Hate and Division Assumed Power Yesterday’
Actress America Ferrera, chair of the Women March on Washington's "artist table," addressed thousands of protesters Saturday and delivered a message to President Donald Trump and his new administration.
"It’s been a heartrending time to be both a woman and an immigrant in this country," the Ugly Betty star said. "Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday."
Ferrera, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention last summer, said that the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress don't represent America.
"But the president is not America. His cabinet is not America. Congress is not America," she said. "We are America. And we are here to stay."
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/822826126066282496 "We march today for our families and our neighbors, for our future, for the causes we claim and for the causes that claim us," the 32-year-old actress added.Ferrera told the crowd of protesters that President Trump is not the "moral core" of America.
"We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war. He would like us to forget the words, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,’ and instead, take up a credo of hatred,” she said.
The Women's March on Washington coincide Saturday with dozens of anti-Trump protests around the world.
Hillary Clinton took to Twitter Saturday to show support for the protesters marching and rallying against Trump.
"Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever," Clinton tweeted. "I truly believe we're always Stronger Together."
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/822822900239581184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw12:00 PM:
Breitbart News’ Amanda House, Lee Stranahan, and Raheem Kassam report that turnout for the march in Washington, D.C. is massive, with a “sea of pink pussy hats” clogging the streets.
Lee Stranahan/Breitbart News
Lee Stranahan/Breitbart News
Amanda House/Breitbart News
Raheem Kassam/Breitbart News
Raheem Kassam/Breitbart News
Raheem Kassam/Breitbart News
Raheem Kassam/Breitbart News
11:38 AM: Associated Press – HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN PROTEST AGAINST TRUMP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wearing pink, pointy-eared “pussyhats” to mock the new president, hundreds of thousands of women massed in the nation’s capital and cities around the globe Saturday to send Donald Trump an emphatic message that they won’t let his agenda go unchallenged over the next four years.
“We march today for the moral core of this nation, against which our new president is waging a war,” actress America Ferrera told the Washington crowd. “Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. … We are America and we are here to stay.”
The women brandished signs with messages such as “Women won’t back down” and “Less fear more love” and decried Trump’s stand on such issues as abortion, health care, diversity and climate change. The message reverberated at demonstrations around the globe, from Paris and Berlin to Sydney and beyond.
There were early signs that the crowds in Washington could top those that gathered for Trump’s inauguration on Friday. City officials said organizers of the Women’s March on Washington more than doubled their turnout estimate to 500,000 as crowds began swelling and subways into the city became clogged with participants.
It wasn’t just a Washington phenomenon and it wasn’t just women: More than 600 “sister marches” were planned across the country and around the world, and plenty of men were part of the tableau, too. Organizers estimated 3 million would march worldwide.
As the rally alongside the National Mall took shape, Trump opened his first full day as president by attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, a tradition for the day after inauguration.
Outside on the streets of Washington, feminist leader Gloria Steinem described the worldwide mobilization as “the upside of the downside: This is an outpouring of energy and democracy like I have never seen in my very long life.”
“Sometimes we must put our bodies where our beliefs are,” she told the Washington crowd, labeling Trump an “impossible president.”
In Paris, thousands marched in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood in a joyful atmosphere, singing and carrying posters reading: “We have our eyes on you Mr. Trump” and “With our sisters in Washington.”
At a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, author Jodi Picoult said: “We in New Hampshire are not in the habit of going in reverse. We have the backs of those who are less fortunate – who may be struggling for health care, for environmental rights, for racial equality, for a fair wage, for justice.”
Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, took to Twitter to thank the participants for “standing, speaking and marching for our values.”
Retired teacher Linda Lastella, 69, who came to Washington from Metuchen, New Jersey, said she had never marched before but felt the need to speak out when “many nations are experiencing this same kind of pullback and hateful, hateful attitudes.”
“It just seemed like we needed to make a very firm stand of where we were,” she said.
Rose Wurm, 64, a retired medical secretary from Bedford, Pennsylvania, boarded a Washington-bound bus in Hagerstown, Maryland, at 7 a.m. carrying two signs: one asking Trump to stop tweeting, and one asking him to fix, not trash, the Obamacare health law.
“There are parts of it that do need change. It’s something new, something unique that’s not going to be perfect right out of the gate,” she said.
Many wore hand-knit “pussyhats” – a message of female empowerment aimed squarely at Trump’s crude boast about grabbing women’s genitals.
The march attracted significant support from celebrities. Ferrera led the artists’ contingent, and those scheduled to speak in Washington included Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Melissa Harris-Perry and Michael Moore. The promised performance lineup included Janelle Monae, Maxwell, Samantha Ronson, the Indigo Girls and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Cher, Katy Perry and Julianne Moore all were expected to attend.
In Prague, hundreds gathered in Wenceslas Square in freezing weather, waving portraits of Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and holding banners that read “This is just the beginning,” ”Kindness” and “Love.”
“We are worried about the way some politicians talk, especially during the American elections,” said organizer Johanna Nejedlova.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, march organizer Lesley-Ann Brown said: “Nationalist, racist and misogynistic trends are growing worldwide and threaten the most marginalized groups in our societies including women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBT community and people with disabilities.”
In Sydney, thousands of Australians marched in solidarity in Hyde Park. One organizer said hatred, bigotry and racism are not only America’s problems.
The idea for the women’s march took off after a number of women posted on social media in the hours after Trump’s election about the need to mobilize. Hundreds of groups quickly joined the cause, pushing a wide range of causes, including abortion rights, gun control, climate change and immigrant rights.
While the march organizers’ “mission and vision” statement never mentions Trump and stresses broad themes, including the message that “women’s rights are human rights,” the unifying factor among those turning out appeared to be a loathing for the new president and dismay that so much of the country voted for him.
Friday’s unrest during the inauguration led police to use pepper spray and stun grenades to prevent the chaos from spilling into Trump’s formal procession and the evening balls. About a mile from the National Mall, police gave chase to a group of about 100 protesters who smashed the windows of downtown businesses, including a Starbucks, a Bank of America and a McDonald’s, as they denounced capitalism and Trump.
10:10 AM:
A tweet from Hillary Clinton’s Twitter account weighs in on the march:
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