We've all told a little white lie in the past to get us off the hook – 'I'm leaving right now' you message your friend before you jump in the shower. 'I promise, it's just the one shop' you fib to your partner on a shopping trip when you know it could take as long as the Ice Age.
But, fret not about your own little discretions, because the new White House press secretary has taken lying to a whole new level. Like, a level even Trump would look at and be like, 'Woah, dude. There's stretching the truth and then there's tearing it apart and sprinkling it like fairy dust over logic'.
Anyway, in Sean Spicer's debut in his new role at the White House on Saturday, he hit several home runs when it comes to fibbing, accusing the media of reporting inaccurate crowd numbers and using misrepresentative photographs 'to minimise the enormous support' that the new president apparently received.
Here are some of the fantastic (and when we say 'fantastic,' we mean outrageous) claims he made during his press conference.
- 'No one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out.'
- 'This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.'
- 'This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual.'
- 'All of this space [from Trump's platform to the Washington Monument] was full when the president took the Oath of Office.'
- 'We know that 420,000 people used the D.C. Metro public transit yesterday, which actually compares to 317,000 that used it for President Obama's last inaugural.'
- 'This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.'
Er, didn't his mother ever tell him you shouldn't tell lies.
Just to clear things up, the National Mall wasn't full at any stage during Trump's inauguration, the New York Times estimated that Trump's crowd came to about about a third of the size of Obama's and, according to figures shared by the Metro Washington subway system on Twitter, 193,000 trips had been taken by 11am on Donald Trump's inauguration day, compared with 513,000 on 20 January 2009 when Barack Obama took office.
Oh and it certainly wasn't the first time that floor coverings were used to protect the grass. They were also used in Obama's 2013 inauguration.
In terms of television viewings, Barack Obama's first inauguration drew an audience of 37.7 million, second only to Ronald Reagan's in 1981 and Trump's didn't come in at anywhere even approximating this number, according to Forbes.
But, hey, they're just the facts. And what do facts mean, right Trump?
As a result of Spicer's outlandish claims, internet users have come out in their droves to mock the press secretary, using the hashtag, #SeanSpicerFacts.
So, in light of Spicer's interpretation of the truth, we'd like to say that unicorns exist, Ringo was the best member of The Beatles and The Lobster was the best film ever to be made. Period.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
