Editorial Opinion:



Cruise Bruise is known for our cruise industry news investigations. We pride ourselves in always telling the truth, no matter who or what is covered in the article. Investigations into truth of cruise industry events, incidents and lawsuits, is what makes Cruise Bruise different from those who merely regurgitate unproven news stories. This is why we take umbrage when a person or entity blankets all media as liars and fake news.



Fake news on the Internet has become a huge problem in recent months, so much so, the issue of fake news has become news itself. We were shocked and horrified when White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer threw together a hasty, press briefing on Saturday, January 21, 2017, one day after his boss, President Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th President of the United States.



The briefing was nothing more than an attack on the media, calling them liars and listing those things his administration alleged as media lies, perpetuated simply to make the President look bad. However, Cruise Bruise has discovered real facts, which can not be disputed. A time lapse video of the inauguration and actual Nielsen Ratings viewer counts from inaugurations from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump.



There were lies, for a fact. But, Spicer was the person lying as our investigation discovered. Those lies didn't go un-noticed and became a fact on the Wikipedia page for Sean Spicer. In looking at the wikipedia page on Sunday morning, Spicer was labeled in red, Sean Spicer Lies For Daddy", as seen in our photo slider on this page. Seven minutes later, the Wikipedia page changed and the reference disappeared. We downloaded the original Wikipedia page and have it on record.







Lie #1 - Sean Spicer, says in the video posted here, "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the world" Spicer said. There is only one way to collect data for how many viewed the ceremony, Nielsen Television Rating. There is no exact count for those viewing the ceremony on the ground, which Spicer says, "no one has numbers" in the video, contradicting his statement of it being the "largest ever".



FACTS: According to Nielsen Ratings

Ronald Reagan 1981 inauguration - 41,800,260 viewers Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration - 37.8 million viewers + 5,341,351 Youtube views (thru Jan 23, 2017) Jimmy Carter 1977 - 34,127,090 viewers Richard Nixon 1973 - 32,950,900 viewers Donald Trump Inauguration - 30.6 Million viewers + 1,571,114 (thru Jan 23, 2017) Bill Clinton 1993 - 29,721,041 viewers George W. Bush in 2001 - 29,008,200 viewers George H.W. Bush 1989 inauguration - 23,316,325 viewers

Lie #2 - Sean Spicer, "All of this space [from Trumps platform to the Washington Monument] was full when the President took the oath of office"



FACT: In the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) time lapse video seen here, there is no doubt how many people were amassed at the inauguration. We see all the visitors come in and we see them all leave. The empty space is undeniable and we can see from President Trump's platform to the Washington Monument was not "full", in fact, far from it.







Lie #3 - Sean Spicer, "This is the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall," Spicer said, claiming that this "had the effect of highlighting areas people were not standing whereas in years past the grass eliminated this visual."



FACT: NBC Washington reported January 17, 2013. "Huge crowds four years ago[Obamas first inauguration] virtually destroyed the grounds. Starting Friday morning, crews will put down thousands of plastic sheets over six-and-a-half acres of new grass on the Mall. The terraplas, as it's called, sits inches above the grass, allowing light and water to pass through."



Lie #4 - Sean Spicer,"They gave him a 5 minute standing ovation at the end in a display of their patriotism and their enthusiasm for his presidency", he states regarding the President's appearance at the CIA.



FACT:The video provided on the official White House Youtube channel for the President's appearance at the CIA, shows the final standing ovation lasted exactly 1 minute, as seen in their video posted here. President Trump's total applause time, before during and after the CIA visit totaled about 3 minutes and 2 seconds.







Lie #5 - Sean Spicer,"This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past,"



FACT: The United States Secret Service(USSS) told Jim Acosta, Senior White House Correspondent that “no magnetometers were used on the National Mall for President Trump's inauguration.”



Can Donald Trump remain the Teflon Don for four years, or will something stick?



Why are all these lies important? The White House and their staff will be giving us information on many important issues during the next four years. From business statistics to trade statistics, statistics on the economy, foreign affairs, military, veterans affairs, education, health care, environmental issues, pending legislation, existing and new federal laws, including maritime law and so much more.



When credibility is non-existent in the first day of this Presidency, it leads to distrust of everything which follows in the coming years. It was that very issue which was at the forefront of the Presidential campaign. "She lies" , was heard frequently during the campaign when he spoke about Hillary Clinton. This single fact echoed in conversations acrosss the country as reasons not to vote for Hillary Clinton.



The topics of lies was discussed on Fox News, in one article in particular written by John Stossel on August 10, 2016, titled, Lies politicians tell. Stossel says, "I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president. She's a liar. But I can't vote for Donald Trump. He lies almost as often. Trump denies he ever said things, claiming he never used terms like "fat pig" to describe women, that he never was open to using nuclear weapons against ISIS, that he never mocked Jon Stewart for changing his name. Smears big and small — Trump just denies he said them.".



Counselor to the President, Kelly Ann Conway says Sean Spicer used "alternative facts" in the press briefing. Alternative "Facts". We have proven there are no facts in these lies; her lie was to support Sean Spicer's lies. If someone else actually wrote the script for the press briefing, there is yet a third person involved in this administration's lies. Three makes it a conspiracy to deceive the public.



"Conspiracy: a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful." At this point it is a short list of possible conspirators doing harm to the American public with deception.



While this conspiracy is no big deal, it was so unimportant, yet they put so much effort into their lies. How would they respond to a critical issue? Is this what we can expect from this administration? Will there be future conspiracies to cover up more critical issues?



Cruise Bruise will trust, but verify and as proud members of the honest news media, that's what we do best.



Update: January 23, 2017

In his press briefing today, Sean Spicer mades several points to be addressed. On Lie #1, listed above, he veered to say the actual physical attendance AND attendance around the world was the largest in history and acknowledged that Ronald Reagan had 41 million.



But, he stands by the statement the physical crowd was also the largest, which is still untrue as the PBS time lapse video documents. In including the viewers around the world he specified those who viewed social media live feeds in addition to television broadcasts. When clarifying all social media feeds are part of the claim, it makes sense. However, as of January 23, 2017 the 2009 Obama inauguration has had 5,341,351 social media views on Youtube and the Trump 2017 inauguration has had 1,571,114 social media views on Youtube. So, without more social media data, the claim may still be false.



He also stood by Lie #2, focusing on the photo comparison tweeted by the media of the 2009 inauguration versus the 2017 inauguration (seen in our photo slider) which the PBS time lapse video we posted shows more clearly than the photos, and makes this statement still untrue. He did not address lie #3.



When pressed, he still stood by Lie #4, the 5 minute standing ovation in the CIA, which is still not true as the Youtube White House video above clearly shows was only one minute. He did not address lie #5.



Supporting Information & Resources:

Case Resources: White House Press Sec Sean Spicer Wikipedia Sean Spicer Press Secretary Statement Kelly Ann Conway: Spicer Used Alternative Facts 2013 Mall Grass Protection Nielsen Ratings



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