White House press secretary Sean Spicer summoned reporters to the briefing room on Saturday to complain about the media's reporting of the size of the crowds at the inauguration of President Donald Trump, claiming it was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, while acknowledging himself that there are no official numbers.

While the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall, does not provide estimates on crowd sizes, photo comparisons between President Obama's inauguration in 2009 and Trump's inauguration showed sizable differences in the crowd sizes. The comparisons, done by major news outlets like CNN and the Washington Post, clearly showed that more people were in attendance at Obama's inauguration in 2009. Keith Still, a crowd safety consultant, told the New York Times he estimated the crowd at Friday's inauguration to be at about one third the size of the 2013 inauguration. Also read: Trump at CIA Headquarters: 'Looked Like a Million People' at Inauguration

Spicer chided the press for the comparisons and said that while there has been a lot of talk about the media holding Trump accountable, that goes both ways and that the White House would hold the press accountable. He said the use of white floor coverings highlighted empty areas while also citing ridership no the D.C. metro. However, numbers provided by the metro as of 11 a.m. Friday showed that ridership was below that of both Obama inaugurations. Spicer claimed it was the first time in the nation's history that floor coverings were used, however various reporters tweeted photos from the 2013 inauguration showing floor coverings. .@PressSec says Friday was "the first time in our nation's history" that the grass on the Mall was protected by floor coverings. Photo says: pic.twitter.com/n1l4MLmHH2

— J. Freedom du Lac (@jfdulac) January 21, 2017 Spicer said this was the first time floor coverings were used on the national mall. I took this photo at the inauguration in 2013. pic.twitter.com/MVHPQQ6Y5F

— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) January 21, 2017 Spicer also said the use of fencing and magnetometers extended further down the Mall than in the past, meaning less people could get to the Mall as quickly. CNN Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta reports that a Secret Service spokesperson told the news channel no magnetometers were used on the Mall.



A USSS spokesperson tells us no magnetometers were used on the National Mall for Trump's inauguration.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 22, 2017 Finally, Spicer said that three areas of the National Mall that hold about 720,000 people were all full when Trump took the oath of office. He claimed that inauguration was the most watched, period, both in person and around the globe. Photo comparisons clearly show more people viewed Obama's 2013 inauguration in person and while numbers released by Nielsen show more people watched Friday's inauguration (31 million,) it was still not the most viewed on television. The following networks are included in Nielsen's numbers: ABC, CBS, NBC, TELEMUNDO, UNIVISION, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, Fox NC, Galavision, HLN and MSNBC.

At the end of his statement, Spicer walked off the stage without taking any questions.

Politifact gave Spicer a "pants on fire" rating for his claim, which essentially means what he said was an outright lie.

Spicer's comments attacking the media were met with shock and outrage.

This statement by @PressSec will go down in history as the most unhinged, ludicrous moment ever to take place from the WH briefing podium.

— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) January 21, 2017 This isn't a petty attack on the press. It's a calculated attempt to delegitimize any questioning of @realDonaldTrump by a free press.

— (((Steve Israel))) (@RepSteveIsrael) January 21, 2017 Wow. Sean Spicer walked to the podium. Unloaded on the media for bias. Accused reporters of dishonesty. Walked off without taking questions.

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) January 21, 2017 So if anyone had any doubt, the White House press secretary's job going forward is to lie to and attack the press.

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 21, 2017 The goal, again, is clear: discredit all sources of information except themselves (and the messengers who are unfailingly loyal). https://t.co/QzRp3ZyaqF

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 21, 2017 It is embarrassing, as an American, to watch this briefing by Sean Spicer from the podium at the White House. Not the RNC. The White House.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 21, 2017 During a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday, Trump blasted the media and wrongly claimed that the inauguration crowd reached the Washington Monument. He also blasted a Time Magazine reporter for saying that a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been moved out of the Oval Office. The reporter corrected his mistake and apologized profusely.

Spicer also singled out the Time reporter on Saturday. He also said that Democrats were playing politics and it was sad that the CIA did not have a director at Saturday's event, telling the media that perhaps they should focus their coverage on that. He also announced that Trump had a productive conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and he would be meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday and with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto later in the month.