White House spokesman Sean Spicer holds first official press conference

Washington, Jan 24 (IANS) White House spokesman Sean Spicer gave his first "official" press conference of the Trump administration Monday afternoon.

"I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts," CNBC quoted Spicer as saying. "Our intention is never to lie to you."

Spicer's appearance before the White House press corps is his first after blasting reporters on Saturday evening over what he called "deliberately false reporting" by some media outlets about the size of crowds at US President Donald Trump's inauguration the day before.

"Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimise the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall," Spicer fumed that day.

He went on to claim that "this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration -- period -- both in person and around the globe." Spicer left that short press briefing without answering any questions.

Spicer's claims were undercut by timestamped aerial photos showing much sparser crowds on the Mall during Trump's inauguration than the crowds that gathered for Barack Obama's swearing-in as President in 2009.

Washington, D.C.'s transit system also reported lower ridership on the system in comparison to Obama's first inauguration.