Alternative facts

Last updated

Spicer at the press briefing

"Alternative facts" was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer would "utter a provable falsehood", Conway stated that Spicer was giving "alternative facts". Todd responded, "Look, alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods." [1]

Contents

Conway's use of the phrase "alternative facts" for demonstrable falsehoods was widely mocked on social media and sharply criticized by journalists and media organizations, including Dan Rather, Jill Abramson, and the Public Relations Society of America. The phrase was extensively described as Orwellian, particularly in reference to the term doublethink . Within four days of the interview, sales of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four had increased 95-fold, which The New York Times and others attributed to Conway's use of the phrase, making it the number-one bestseller on Amazon.com. [2]

Conway later defended her choice of words, defining "alternative facts" as "additional facts and alternative information". [3]

Background

On January 21, 2017, while White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer held his first press briefing, he accused the media of deliberately underestimating the size of the crowd for President Trump's inaugural ceremony the day before and stated that the ceremony had drawn the "largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period – both in person and around the globe". [4] According to rapid transit ridership data and photographic evidence, Spicer's claims and allegations were false. [5] [6] [7] Aerial images showed that the turnout for Trump's inauguration was lower than the turnout for the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. Spicer claimed that 420,000 people rode the D.C. Metro on inauguration day 2017, compared to 317,000 in 2013. He did not offer a source for his claim, or clarify the time periods being compared. Actual ridership figures between midnight and 11 AM were 193,000 in 2017 and 317,000 in 2013. [8] [9] Full-day ridership was 570,557 in 2017 and 782,000 in 2013. [10]

DateActual ridership (WMATA)Suggested ridership
(Sean Spicer)
Morning [11] Full day
197,000
575,069
—
513,000
1,120,000
—
317,000
782,000
317,000
193,000
570,557
420,000

Spicer also gave incorrect information about the use of white ground coverings during the inauguration. He stated that they were used for the first time during the Trump inauguration and were to blame for a visual effect that made the audience look smaller. The white ground coverings, however, had been used in 2013 when Obama was sworn in for the second term. [12] Spicer did not take questions from the media at the press briefing. [4]

Kellyanne Conway, who used the phrase originally Kellyanne Conway by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
Kellyanne Conway, who used the phrase originally

Trump's campaign strategist and counselor, Kellyanne Conway, defended Spicer's statements in a Meet the Press interview. In response to a question from Todd about Trump's false claims regarding the inauguration crowd and the loss of credibility, Conway said:

Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that, but the point remains that...

Todd interrupted her by saying "Wait a minute. Alternative facts? ... Alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods." [1] In her answer, Conway argued that crowd numbers in general could not be assessed with certainty and objected to what she described as Todd's trying to make her look ridiculous. [13] [14] [15]

Conway later defended her choice of words, defining "alternative facts" as "additional facts and alternative information". [3]

Two days later, Spicer corrected his statements concerning the WMATA ridership levels, stating that he had been relying on statistics "given to him". He stood by his widely disputed claim that the inauguration was the most-viewed, stating he also included online viewership in addition to in-person and television in his figures. [16] [17]

During the week following Conway's comments, she discussed "alternative facts", substituting the phrases "alternative information" and "incomplete information". [18] Two days after the Todd interview she defended Trump's travel restrictions by talking about a nonexistent "Bowling Green massacre" (she later said she was referring to the arrest of two Iraqis in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for sending aid to insurgents in Iraq), and by falsely claiming that President Obama in 2011 had "banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months". [19] [20] Her false statements were described as having "taken 'alternative facts' to a new level". [21]

The phrase "alternative facts" was claimed to be similar to a phrase used in Trump's 1987 book, Trump: The Art of the Deal . [22] [23] [24] In that book, "truthful hyperbole" was described as "an innocent form of exaggeration—and ... a very effective form of promotion". The book claimed that "people want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular". The ghostwriter of the book, Tony Schwartz, said he coined that phrase and claimed that Trump "loved it". [25] [22]

Conway later defended her remarks in an interview published in March 2017: "Two plus two is four. Three plus one is four. Partly cloudy, partly sunny. Glass half full, glass half empty. Those are alternative facts." [3] In a radio interview with Mark Simone that was described by Salon in February 2018, she claimed that professional fact-checkers tend to be political liberals and are "selecting what [they] think should be fact-checked ... Americans are their own fact checkers. People know, they have their own facts and figures, in terms of meaning which facts and figures are important to them." [26]

Reactions

Criticism

Spicer's press conference and Conway's follow-up comments drew quick reactions on social media. Journalist Dan Rather posted a criticism of the incoming Trump administration on his Facebook page. [27] [28] Rather wrote: [29]

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 cojones to answer a single question ... 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.

The New York Times responded with a fact check of statements made during Spicer's press conference. [30] This included a side-by-side photographic comparison of the crowds from Obama's 2009 inauguration and that of Trump.

Journalist and former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson characterized Conway's comments about alternative facts as "Orwellian newspeak", and said "'Alternative facts' are just lies". [31] NBC News quoted two experts on the psychology of lying who said that the Trump administration was engaging in gaslighting, [32] and reported that the domain name alternativefacts.com (offline) had been purchased and redirected to an article in Psychology Today on gaslighting. [33] [34]

The Merriam-Webster dictionary website reported that lookups for the word "fact" spiked after Conway used the phrase "alternative facts". They also got involved by tweeting about it: "A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality." The tweet included a link to their article [35] about Conway's use of the term. [36] [37] [38]

Following Conway's Meet the Press interview and the viral response on social media in which "alternative facts" was likened to Doublethink and Newspeak, terms from George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , sales of the book increased by more than 9,500 percent, rising to the number one best-selling book on Amazon.com. The New York Times and others attributed this to Conway's statement. [2] [39] Penguin, the book's publisher, ordered a 75,000 unit reprint to meet demand. [39] [40] [41]

Snopes journalist Alex Kasprak noted that a passage from Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark became a viral meme about alternative facts after the inauguration of Trump; Kasprak commented "the proffered description of that nightmare was authentic". [42]

On January 24, 2017, the Public Relations Society of America, a public relations trade group, put out a statement that said "Encouraging and perpetuating the use of alternative facts by a high-profile spokesperson reflects poorly on all communications professionals." [43] [44]

In a Breitbart News article dated January 23, 2017, editor Joel Pollak defended Conway's use of "alternative facts" by arguing that it was a "harmless, and accurate term in a legal setting, where each side of a dispute will lay out its own version of the facts for the court to decide". However, The Guardian noted that "[a] search of several online legal dictionaries did not yield any results for the term." [45]

On February 23, 2017, fifteen professors of law, some of whom are themselves obliged to adhere to the District of Columbia Bar Association's Rule of Professional Conduct, rule 8.4(a), filed a disciplinary complaint with the D.C. Bar's Office of Disciplinary Conduct. Their complaint applies against Conway, a lawyer in public office, on the grounds that under rule 8.4(c): "It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation", because of Conway's pattern of misrepresentation as well as her misuse of words such as "massacre" at a time when she holds high public office. The letter of complaint makes a specific reference to the use of the phrase "alternative facts" as being involved in one of the cases of alleged misconduct, citing as a reference for its claim an opinion article by The New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Fandos. [46]

The term alternative facts became a mainstay in popular culture, from late night comedians to serious news outlets. Jimmy Fallon created a segment "Two Truths and an Alternative Fact" on The Tonight Show . [47] Stephen Colbert criticized Conway for saying she was not Inspector Gadget or "in the job of having evidence" [48] on The Late Show , claiming "Kellyanne Conway has only one move: 'Go, go, alternative facts!'" [49]

CNN's ad campaign "Facts First" was a direct response to the concept of alternative facts and fake news. [50] USA Today listed it in their "Glossary of Trump terms". [51]

Both Robert De Niro and Steven Spielberg referred to alternative facts in their acceptance speech at the National Board of Review awards for the Spielberg film The Post . Spielberg said: "We are in a fight and it's a fight not just about alternative facts but it's a fight for the objective truth." [52]

The 2017 short film Alternative Math is a satire about the absurdity of the concept of alternative facts. [53]

On January 16, 2018, German linguists declared the phrase "alternative facts" the un-word of the year 2017. [54] It was also chosen by Austrian linguists as the un-word of the year in December 2017. [55]

See also

Related Research Articles

A big lie is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth primarily used as a political propaganda technique. The German expression was first used by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf (1925) to describe how people could be induced to believe so colossal a lie because they would not believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Hitler claimed that the technique had been used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist political leader in the Weimar Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mika Brzezinski</span> American television host

Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough is an American talk show host who co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show Morning Joe alongside her husband Joe Scarborough. She was formerly a CBS News correspondent, and was their principal "Ground Zero" reporter during the morning of the September 11 attacks. In 2007, she joined MSNBC as an occasional anchor, and was subsequently chosen as co-host of Morning Joe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellyanne Conway</span> American political consultant, pollster (born 1967)

Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway is an American political consultant and pollster who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previously Trump's campaign manager, having been appointed in August 2016; Conway is the first woman to have run a successful U.S. presidential campaign. She has previously held roles as campaign manager and strategist in the Republican Party and was formerly president and CEO of the Polling Company/WomanTrend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Todd</span> American journalist (born 1972)

Charles David Todd is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He also hosted Meet the Press Now, its daily edition on NBC News Now and is currently the Chief Political Analyst for NBC News. Before taking the helm of Meet the Press, Todd was Chief White House correspondent for NBC as well as host of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC. He also serves as NBC News' on-air political analyst for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Kessler (journalist)</span> American journalist

Glenn Kessler is an American editor and writer who has written "The Fact Checker" feature for The Washington Post since 2011.

The Doublespeak Award was a humorous award in the United States of America. It was described as an "ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered", i.e. those who have engaged in doublespeak. It was issued by the US National Council of Teachers of English between 1974 and 2020. Nominees needed to be from the US, though in 1975 the award was given to Yasser Arafat. In 2022, it was announced the award would be superseded by an annual list of multiple examples of such language from a public spokesperson or group, to be called The Year in Doublespeak.

<i>Trump: The Art of the Deal</i> 1987 book by Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz

Trump: The Art of the Deal is a 1987 book credited to Donald J. Trump and journalist Tony Schwartz. Part memoir and part business-advice book, it was the first book credited to Trump, and it helped to make him a household name. It reached number 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, stayed there for 13 weeks, and altogether held a position on the list for 48 weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayleigh McEnany</span> American conservative political commentator and author (born 1988)

Kayleigh Michelle McEnany is an American conservative political commentator, television personality, and writer who served the administration of Donald Trump as the 33rd White House press secretary from April 2020 to January 2021.

"Basket of deplorables" is a pejorative phrase from a 2016 US presidential election campaign speech delivered by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on September 9, 2016, at a campaign fundraising event. She used the phrase to describe "half" of the supporters of her opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, saying they're "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic". The next day, she expressed regret for "saying half", while insisting that Trump had deplorably amplified "hateful views and voices".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First inauguration of Donald Trump</span> 58th United States presidential inauguration

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Trump's first term as president and Mike Pence's only term as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony held on Friday, January 20, 2017, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The event was the 58th presidential inauguration. Held in Washington, D.C., from January 17 to 21, 2017, inaugural events included concerts, the swearing-in ceremony, a congressional luncheon, parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith inaugural prayer service. The inauguration was protested worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First 100 days of the first Donald Trump presidency</span>

The first 100 days of the first Donald Trump presidency began on January 20, 2017, the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. The first 100 days of a presidential term took on symbolic significance during Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term in office, and the period is considered a benchmark to measure the early success of a president. The 100th day of his presidency ended on April 30, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Spicer</span> American political aide (born 1971)

Sean Michael Spicer is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications director of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017, and its chief strategist from 2015 to 2017.

False information in the United States has been a subject of discussion and debate, especially since the increased reliance on the Internet and social media for information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowling Green massacre</span> Nonexistent event

The Bowling Green massacre is a fictitious incident of Islamic terrorism mentioned by Kellyanne Conway, then–counselor to President Donald Trump, in interviews with Cosmopolitan and TMZ on January 29, 2017, and in an interview on the MSNBC news program Hardball with Chris Matthews on February 2, 2017. Conway cited it as justification for a travel and immigration ban from seven Muslim-majority countries enacted by United States president Donald Trump. However, no such massacre occurred. The day after the interview, Conway said she misspoke and had been referring to the 2011 arrest of two Iraqi refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on charges including "attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaeda in Iraq." She stated that she had mentioned the incident because it led previous President Barack Obama to tighten immigration procedures for Iraqi citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Huckabee Sanders</span> Governor of Arkansas since 2023

Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 47th governor of Arkansas. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. Sanders was the third woman to be White House press secretary. She also served as a senior advisor on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Sanders became the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and won, defeating Democratic nominee Chris Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GrabYourWallet</span>

#GrabYourWallet is an organization and social media campaign that is an umbrella term for economic boycotts against companies that have any connections to Donald Trump in response to the leak of a lewd conversation between Donald Trump and Billy Bush on the set of Access Hollywood where he said "grab them by the pussy". The movement has particularly targeted Uber and Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump's clothing and shoe line, which was carried by Nordstrom before being indefinitely discontinued due to poor sales as a result of the boycott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trump Tower wiretapping allegations</span> 2017 US political controversy

On March 4, 2017, Donald Trump wrote a series of posts on his Twitter account that falsely accused former President Barack Obama's administration of wiretapping his "wires" at Trump Tower late in the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump called for a congressional investigation into the matter, and the Trump administration cited news reports to defend these accusations. His initial claims appeared to have been based on a Breitbart News article he had been given which repeated speculations made by conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch or on a Bret Baier interview, both of which occurred the day prior to his Tweets. By June 2020, no evidence had surfaced to support Trump's claim, which had been refuted by the Justice Department (DOJ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Conway</span> American attorney and activist (born 1963)

George Thomas Conway III is an American lawyer and activist. Conway argued and won the 2010 case Morrison v. National Australia Bank before the Supreme Court of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False or misleading statements by Donald Trump</span> False or misleading statements made by Donald Trump

During and after his term as President of the United States, Donald Trump made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims. The Washington Post's fact-checkers documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidential term, an average of about 21 per day. The Toronto Star tallied 5,276 false claims from January 2017 to June 2019, an average of 6 per day. Commentators and fact-checkers have described the scale of Trump's mendacity as "unprecedented" in American politics, and the consistency of falsehoods a distinctive part of his business and political identities. Scholarly analysis of Trump's tweets found "significant evidence" of an intent to deceive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public image of Donald Trump</span>

Donald Trump, president-elect of the United States who previously served as 45th president, has elicited highly polarized public perceptions about his performance as a head of state and largely negative opinions about his temperament and personal conduct while in office.

References

  1. 1 2 Blake, Aaron (January 22, 2017). "Kellyanne Conway says Donald Trump's team has 'alternative facts'. Which pretty much says it all". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  2. 1 2
  3. 1 2 3 Nuzzi, Olivia. "Kellyanne Conway Is the Real First Lady of Trump's America". New York Intelligencer .
  4. 1 2 Cillizza, Chris (January 21, 2017). "Sean Spicer held a press conference. He didn't take questions. Or tell the whole truth". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  5. ↑ Stelter, Brian (January 21, 2017). "White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds". CNN . Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ Wallace, Tim; Yourish, Karen; Griggs, Troy (January 20, 2017). "Trump's Inauguration vs. Obama's: Comparing the Crowds". The New York Times .
  7. ↑ Mijnssen, Ivo (January 23, 2017). "Die Parallelwelt des Trump-Teams: "Alternative Fakten sind Lügen"". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Alt-fact: Trump's White House threatens war on media over 'unfair attacks'". Haaretz . Reuters. January 22, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ Fandos, Nicholas (January 22, 2017). "Fact-checking the White House 'alternative facts'". The Seattle Times . Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  10. ↑ Qiu, Linda (January 21, 2017). "Donald Trump had biggest inaugural crowd ever? Metrics don't show it". Politifact . Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  11. ↑ Metro [@wmata] (January 20, 2017). "Metro Ridership: As of 11am, 193k trips taken so far today. (11am 1/20/13 = 317k, 11am 1/20/09 = 513k, 11am 1/20/05 = 197k) #wmata" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ "President Trump's Spokesman Just Lied About The Size Of The Inauguration Crowd". BuzzFeed. January 22, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  13. ↑ Graham, David (January 22, 2017). "'Alternative Facts': The Needless Lies of the Trump Administration". The Atlantic . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  14. ↑ Swaine, Jon (January 22, 2017). "Trump presidency begins with defense of false 'alternative facts'". The Guardian . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  15. ↑ Bennett, Brian (January 22, 2017). "Trump aides defend inflated inauguration figures as 'alternative facts'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  16. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael M. (January 23, 2017). "Sean Spicer, Trump's Press Secretary, Reboots His Relationship With the Press". The New York Times . Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  17. ↑ Berger, Judson (January 23, 2017). "Spicer Changes Up Format at WH Briefings, Moves to Hit Reset with Press". Fox News Channel . Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  18. ↑ Wolff, Michael (January 26, 2017). "A Conversation With Kellyanne Conway: 'I'm the Face of Trump's Movement'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  19. ↑ Hoefer, Hayley (February 3, 2017). "Kellyanne Conway's 'Alternative Facts'". U.S. News & World Report . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  20. ↑ Hjelmgaard, Kim (February 3, 2017). "Kellyanne Conway on Bowling Green 'massacre': I meant 'terrorists'". USA Today . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  21. ↑ Schmidt, Samantha (February 3, 2017). "Kellyanne Conway cites 'Bowling Green massacre' that never happened to defend travel ban". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Page, Clarence (January 24, 2017). "Column: 'Alternative facts' play to Americans' fantasies". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  23. ↑ Micek, John L. (January 22, 2017). "Memo to Kellyanne Conway, there is no such thing as 'alternative facts': John L. Micek". The Patriot-News . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  24. ↑ Werner, Erica. "GOP Congress grapples with Trump's 'alternative facts'". The Detroit News . Associated Press.
  25. ↑ Mayer, Jane (July 25, 2016). "Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  26. ↑ May, Charlie (February 1, 2018). "Kellyanne Conway: The American people 'have their own facts'". Salon . Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Dan Rather takes to Facebook to blast President Trump's 'alternative facts'". Tampa Bay Times . January 22, 2017. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  28. ↑ Calfas, Jennifer (January 22, 2017). "Dan Rather on Trump: 'These are not normal times'". The Hill . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  29. ↑ Rather, Dan (January 22, 2017). "Dan Rather Facebook post" . Retrieved January 22, 2017– via Facebook.
  30. ↑ Fandos, Nicholas (January 22, 2017). "White House Pushes Alternative Facts. Here Are the Real Ones". The New York Times . Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  31. ↑ Abramson, Jill (January 23, 2017). "Sorry, Kellyanne Conway. 'Alternative facts' are just lies". The Guardian . Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  32. ↑ Fox, Maggie (January 25, 2017). "Some Experts Say Trump Team's Falsehoods Are Classic 'Gaslighting'". NBC News . Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  33. ↑ Melvin, Don; Calabrese, Erin (January 27, 2017). "Alternativefacts.com Links to Magazine Story About Gaslighting". NBC News . Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  34. ↑ Sarkis, Stephanie (January 22, 2017). "Gaslighting: Know It and Identify It to Protect Yourself". Psychology Today . Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  35. ↑ Merriam-Webster Trend Watch (January 22, 2017): "Conway: 'Alternative Facts' Lookups for 'fact' spiked after Kellyanne Conway described false statements as 'alternative facts'". Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  36. ↑ @MerriamWebster (January 22, 2017). "A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. ↑ Kircher, Madison Malone (January 23, 2017). "The Dictionary Attempts to Remind Kellyanne Conway What the Definition of 'Fact' Is". New York Magazine . Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  38. ↑ Raphelson, Samantha (January 26, 2017). "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary Has Been Trolling Trump On Twitter For Months". NPR . Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  39. 1 2 Andrews, Travis (January 25, 2017). "Sales of Orwell's '1984' spike after Kellyanne Conway's 'alternative facts'". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  40. ↑ Shen, Lucinda (January 25, 2017). "The Publisher of '1984' Just Ordered a Massive Reprint for the Age of 'Alternative Facts'". Fortune . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  41. ↑ Goodman, Jessica (January 25, 2017). "1984 hits No. 1 on Amazon after Kellyanne Conway's 'alternative facts' quote". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  42. ↑ "Is This Carl Sagan's 'Foreboding of an America'?". Snopes . January 23, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  43. ↑ "PRSA Statement on 'Alternative Facts'". Public Relations Society of America. January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  44. ↑ Conway, Madeline (January 2, 2017). "Public relations association rebukes Trump's White House on 'alternative facts'". Politico . Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  45. ↑ Gabbatt, Adam (January 23, 2017). "Even rightwing sites call out Trump administration over 'alternative facts'". The Guardian .
  46. ↑ Sari Horwitz, "Law professors file misconduct complaint against Kellyanne Conway". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  47. ↑ Russonello, Giovanni (February 23, 2017). "Jimmy Fallon Offers His Own 'Alternative Facts'". The New York Times .
  48. ↑ "Conway: I'm not Inspector Gadget". March 13, 2017.
  49. ↑ Scott, Katie (March 14, 2017). "Stephen Colbert mocks Kellyanne Conway". Global News.
  50. ↑ CNN – 'This is an Apple' ad – via YouTube.
  51. ↑ "'Alternative facts' to 'witch hunt': A glossary of Trump terms". USA Today .
  52. ↑ "Robert De Niro Mocks President Trump in Profanity-Laced Tirade at NBR Awards". January 10, 2018.
  53. ↑ Knecht, Lyndsay; Lester, Demetria (November 24, 2017). "Watch Three Subversive Comedies For Free Online". D Magazine . Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  54. ↑ "'Alternative Facts' Is 2017's Non-Word of the Year, German Linguists Declare". USA Today .
  55. ↑ "'Vollholler' zum rot-weiß-roten Wort des Jahres gewählt". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved January 18, 2018.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.