In the White House Press Secretary's first meeting with the media, he (Sean Spicer) told some untruths about the size of the crowd at Trump's inauguration, claiming there were far more people than the media had reported . Then he left the press briefing without answering any questions from the news media. Later, another Trump aide claimed that Spicer had not lied, but just presented some "alternate facts".
This is a very troubling occurrence. There is no such thing as an alternate fact. There are only facts and lies -- and anything that is not a fact is a lie. It does show just how narcissistic the new president is -- that he would send his press secretary out to lie about such a thing (something that really doesn't matter in the large scheme of things). It seems that Trump worries more about his image than the truth.
If he is willing to lie about something about this, can he be trusted when it comes to things that really matter to the well-being of the American people? Probably not. It seems that the hallmark of the Trump administration is going to be dishonesty.
Here is Dan Rather's comment on this situation:
These are not normal times. These are extraordinary times. And extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. When you have a spokesperson for the president of the United States wrap up a lie in the Orwellian phrase "alternative facts”… When you have a press secretary in his first appearance before the White House reporters threaten, bully, lie, and then walk out of the briefing room without the cajones to answer a single question… When you have a President stand before the stars of the fallen CIA agents and boast about the size of his crowds (lies) and how great his authoritarian inaugural speech was…. These are not normal times. The press has never seen anything like this before. The public has never seen anything like this before. And the political leaders of both parties have never seen anything like this before. What can we do? We can all step up and say simply and without equivocation. "A lie, is a lie, is a lie!" And if someone won't say it, those of us who know that there is such a thing as the truth must do whatever is in our power to diminish the liar's malignant reach into our society. There is one group of people who can do a lot - very quickly. And that is Republicans in Congress. Without their support, Donald Trump's presidency will falter. So here is what I think everyone in the press must do. If you are interviewing a Paul Ryan, a Mitch McConnell, or any other GOP elected official, the first question must be "what will you do to combat the lying from the White House?" If they dodge and weave, keep with the follow ups. And if they refuse to give a satisfactory answer, end the interview. Facts and the truth are not partisan. They are the bedrock of our democracy. And you are either with them, with us, with our Constitution, our history, and the future of our nation, or you are against it. Everyone must answer that question.
