USA TODAY International Edition
White House urges media to back off its ‘ negative narrative’
First press briefing suggests new protocol
After a weekend blowup about inaugural crowd sizes, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that reporters are too negative toward President Trump — part of an initial media briefing that revealed a new approach to choosing questioners and the Trump administration’s desire to get credit for its early work in office.
“It’s not about one tweet, it’s not about one picture — it’s about a constant theme ... the default narrative is always negative, and it’s demoralizing,” Spicer said in his first formal briefing as presidential spokesman.
Spicer also announced a new effort to bring new types of reporters into the briefing: four daily “Skype seats” in the press room, available to journalists from outlets not based in Washington.
The new press secretary joked and jousted with reporters about the tense start to Trump White House relations with the press — a short and combative statement he read to reporters late Saturday afternoon about their coverage of the size of the crowds for Trump’s inauguration Friday.
Seeking to leaven any remaining tension, Spicer opened the proceedings Monday by saying, “I was going to start with a recap of the inauguration, but I think we’ve covered that pretty well.”
Inauguration questions still surfaced, however, and Spicer defended his claim that Trump had the most- watched inauguration in history, as well as his approach to his new job as press secretary.
“It’s an honor to do this, and, yes, I believe that we have to be honest with the American people,” the veteran Republican Party spokesman said. “I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts. ... But our intention’s never to lie to you.”
Fact- checkers bashed Spicer for his statement Saturday that “this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe” — even though aerial photographs showed much fewer people for Trump than for newly sworn- in President Obama eight years ago.
In his briefing Monday, Spicer said Trump’s frustration with the crowd- size story reflects his frustration with what he called a trend: “The default narrative is always negative.”