President Trump on Tuesday shared an image of a panoramic portrait illustrating the size of his inauguration crowd that has been put on display in the White House press hall.
Trump tweeted a photo of the portrait, which was taken by Washington-based photographer Abbas Shirmohammadi, during Friday’s inauguration ceremony.
{mosads}Social media users quickly noted that the date on the photo incorrectly reads Jan. 21, rather than Jan. 20, when Trump took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.
Trump blasted the media during a speech at CIA headquarters on Saturday, accusing journalists of underreporting the number of people who attended his swearing in. The crowd, he said, stretched across the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.
The White House doubled down on that claim later on Saturday, when press secretary Sean Spicer asserted that Trump had drawn “the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe.”
Reporters quickly pointed out that both Trump and Spicer were incorrect, evidencing lower Metro ridership on Friday than during past inaugurations and digging up photos clearly showing large empty spaces in the inauguration crowd.
Federal law prohibits the National Parks Service, which oversees the National Mall, from issuing an official estimate of crowd size.
The photo shared by Trump on Tuesday now hangs in the press hallway connecting the workspaces of White House communications staff.