#IAmNotADictionary Word Of The Day – #AlternativeFacts
“Alternative facts” is a phrase used by 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 statements about the attendance at Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer “utter[ed] a provable falsehood”, Conway said “Don’t be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. You’re saying it’s a falsehood, and … our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that.” Todd responded by saying “Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods.”
Conway’s use of the phrase “alternative facts” to describe what are widely regarded as falsehoods was mocked on social media and sharply criticized by Dan Rather, Jill Abramson, and the Public Relations Society of America. The phrase was extensively described as Orwellian; by Thursday, January 26, 2017, sales of the book Nineteen Eighty-Four had increased by 9,500 percent, becoming the number one best seller on Amazon.com.