Search KelownaNow
A now infamous photograph comparing the large crowd at Obama's inauguration in 2009 to the underwhelming crowd at Trump's 2017 inauguration has caused quite a stir at the White House.
Such a stir, that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer entered a press conference absolutely enraged about the photo.
He quickly went on to present multiple "alternative facts" disputing its legitimacy.
WATCH: @PressSec Sean Spicer takes on the media's coverage of President Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/3UGKIqzodQ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 23, 2017
Should the White House Press Secretary be focused on more important things? Likely.
Nonetheless, the story has developed to the point where Reuters chief photography editor, the man responsible for assigning the photographer who took the photo, has spoken out.
Jim Bourg, who assigned a photographer to scale the Washington Monument for a sky-high view of the swearing-in ceremony, slammed “inaccurate talk and allegations” he found circulating among his own Facebook friends.
“Only one news organization had a still photographer atop the Washington monument for the inauguration and I assigned him to be there,” Bourg wrote in a Facebook post Sunday night.
“This photo by Reuters News Pictures staff photographer Lucas Jackson was taken at 12:01:18 p.m. on Friday and not much earlier as many people are trying to claim.”
Press Secretary Spicer countered that there's was no way to measure the attendance at the two inaugurations and that the photo is inaccurate.
“No one had numbers because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out,” he said, seemingly contradicting himself.
In many ways Trump's Presidency is off to the exact start many predicted, rocky.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.