--- ---  # Sean Spicer 'Absolutely' Regrets Attacking Reporters Over President Trump's Inauguration Crowd Size by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 18, 2017 7:31 PM UTC  Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer speaks onstage during the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer speaks onstage during the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 18, 2017 7:31 PM UTC Following his surprise appearance at the 2017 Emmys, [Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4946406/sean-spicer-emmys-comedy/) says he regrets making false claims to the press during his first briefing under President Trump. “Of course I do, absolutely,” Spicer [told the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/arts/television/sean-spicer-emmys.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur) of regretting his infamous claim about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration. The former White House Press Secretary got off on the wrong foot with the media almost immediately following Trump’s swearing-in to office in January by doubling down on incorrect assertions that Trump’s inauguration drew the “largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” Analysis of the [crowd size](http://time.com/4643927/sean-spicer-white-house-donald-trump-inauguration-press-briefing/) showed that the audience for Trump’s inauguration was about one-third the size of that for former President Barack Obama in 2009. Spicer [mocked himself at the Emmys](http://time.com/4945440/sean-spicer-emmys-donald-trump-season-colbert/) with a one-line joke: “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period — both in person and around the world.” His appearance was controversial among those who [criticized the joke](http://time.com/4946088/sean-spicer-emmys/) as making light of Spicer’s time in the White House, and garnered a [shocked response](http://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/) from the audience at the awards ceremony. Spicer, who [resigned from his position](http://time.com/4868546/sean-spicer-resigns-anthony-scaramucci-donald-trump/) as press secretary in July, kept his Emmys appearance a secret until he got on stage. He said he hoped Trump would not be offended by the gag: “This was an attempt to poke a little fun at myself and add a little bit of levity to the event.” Sean Spicer Regrets False Claims About Inauguration ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4946886/sean-spicer-inauguration-emmys-regret/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4946886/sean-spicer-inauguration-emmys-regret/"},"headline":"Sean Spicer 'Absolutely' Regrets Attacking Reporters Over President Trump's Inauguration Crowd Size","datePublished":"2017-09-18T19:31:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:28:56.981Z","description":"The former White House press secretary regrets yelling at the press","url":"https://time.com/4946886/sean-spicer-inauguration-emmys-regret/","keywords":["Television","White House","onetime","sean spicer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932449ce43ec5112/6988de4986f68e5fa16e6775/sean-spicer-emmys1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932449ce43ec5112/6988de4986f68e5fa16e6775/sean-spicer-emmys1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show","caption":"69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4946886/sean-spicer-inauguration-emmys-regret/","name":"Sean Spicer 'Absolutely' Regrets Attacking Reporters Over President Trump's Inauguration Crowd Size"}}]}] ```