In the press conference Spicer said, "No one had numbers. Because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out." Later in the press conference, he said, "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period!" Presenting something as truth that has no factual evidence to back it up has been a disturbing trend this election season with several candidates. I just hope people are smart enough to find the information and make their own decisions.
I have no idea why Trump and his staff are making this into something. It's pretty obvious to anyone watching the time lapse that Obama's first inauguration drew a larger crowd, and Reagan's inauguration was larger than either of the two. The fact that Trump tried to present his inauguration as the largest ever concerns me. Nobody would have paid any attention to his own inauguration numbers if he hadn't claimed it as the largest, coming off petty and egocentric instead of presenting what most would consider to be a presidential manner since nobody cares about inauguration size unless the president does.