Instead of calling on front-row outlets like the Associated Press and others, Spicer gave the first questions of his first full-blown White House briefing to a New York Post reporter. While doing so, Spicer moved to dial down the temperature with the media after a heated dispute broke out Saturday, when he excoriated reporters for allegedly underplaying President Trump’s inauguration turnout. At the Saturday briefing, Spicer also condemned a reporter’s erroneous claim, since retracted, that a Martin Luther King Jr. bust was removed from the Oval Office. “Knowing what we know now, we can tell that WMATA’s numbers are different,” Spicer said, referring to the agency that controls the Metro system. Monday’s press briefing and agenda, however, saw a return to some of the core issues Trump campaigned on in 2016 – especially on the economy.

Source: Fox News January 23, 2017 19:24 UTC