Trump falsely accuses media of downplaying crowd at his inauguration

US President Donald Trump spent his first full day in office by attacking the media, falsely accusing reporters of downplaying the turnout at his inauguration.

Trump asserted without evidence that 1.5 million people attended his Friday swearing-in ceremony.

"I made a speech. I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people," he told CIA staff.

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"They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, Donald Trump did not draw well," he added.

Trump said one agency, without saying which one, estimated the turnout at 250,000. "Now, that's not bad. But it's a lie," Trump said. He claimed thatcrowds stretched till the Washington Monument, twenty blocks from the Capitol, where he spoke."So we caught them and we caught them in a beauty and I think they're going to pay a big price," he added.

The President's thoughtswere repeatedbyWhite House press secretary, Sean Spicer, who, without evidence, scolded reporters for"deliberately false reporting" on crowd size.

"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period!" Spicer said."These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong." He left, refusing totakeany questions.

Sean Spicer was mocked on social media with the hashtag #SpicerFacts.

Many observed that the Women's March, an anti-Trump protest,hada visibly larger attendance than Trump's presidential rally.

Many alsocompared the turnout between former president Barack Obama's inauguralceremony and that of Trump on January 21.Aerial photos taken on January 20, 2009 and Friday clearly show that the crowd fell short in the latter's ceremony.Television footage also showed the crowd did not stretch as far as the Washington Monument like Trump claimed.

About 1.8 million people assembled at the National Mall area in 2009 when Barack Obama took oath as President. Washington authorities had predicted 800,000 to 900,000 would attend Trump's inauguration Friday, about half of the 2009 crowd.

Trump's comments came in during a visit to theCentralIntelligence Agency headquarters inLangley, Virginia, a move to mend ties with Intelligence agencies, when he cast doubt on their assessment of Russia meddling in the November 8 election.

He stood in front of a wall sacred to the CIA, honouring employees killed during service, and told the employees he fully supported the agency in a speech that mostly focused on criticising the media.

The New York Times said that Trump's speech set off a "fierce reaction" among many in the CIA, with John O Brennan, the CIA director who resigned Friday, saying "Trump should be ashamed of himself", according to Brennan's former chief of staff, Nick Shapiro.

Trump has disagreed with US intelligence agencies in recent weeksabout their conclusion that Russia interfered in the US election on his behalf. After a dossier with unverified facts leaked to the public, Trump accused the intelligence agencies of allowing the leak."Are we living in Nazi Germany?" Trump asked on Twitter.

On Saturday Trump suggested that the media is to blame for any suggestion that he does not fully support the work of US intelligence agencies.

"I love you, I respect you, there's nobody I respect more," he told them.

(WION with inputs from AFP)