Alternative facts (politics)
"Alternative facts" is a phrase that became widely known in political discourse after it was used by Kellyanne Conway, a White House aide, during a discussion about the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2017. The term emerged in response to accusations that Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, had misrepresented the size of the crowd at Trump's inauguration, claiming it was the largest ever, despite evidence suggesting the audience was significantly smaller than that of Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. Conway defended Spicer by asserting that he was providing "alternative facts," a statement that sparked significant media controversy and public backlash.
The phrase quickly gained traction, becoming emblematic of debates over truth and misinformation in politics. Critics argued that "alternative facts" undermined the credibility of the administration, while supporters perceived it as an unjust media attack. The incident sparked widespread discussions about the nature of truth, the role of the media, and the relationship between political communication and public perception. Notably, the controversy influenced the perception of the Trump administration and contributed to ongoing dialogues about information dissemination in the digital age. The phrase remains a reference point in discussions of political rhetoric and the evolving landscape of truth in modern governance.
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Alternative facts (politics)
Alternative facts is a controversial phrase coined by White House aide Kellyanne Conway during media coverage following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January 2017. Conway used the phrase to defend Trump's then press secretary Sean Spicer, who had been accused of misrepresenting the size of the audience that witnessed Trump's inauguration ceremony. Spicer notoriously claimed that Trump's inauguration drew the largest audience ever to witness a presidential inauguration, contradicting news reports that appeared to show a larger crowd at the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama. After the press accused Spicer of making deliberately false statements, Conway said Spicer was simply giving "alternative facts."
Overview
On Saturday, January 21, 2017, after the official conclusion of his inauguration, President Trump told the media that about a "million and a half" people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC, to witness the ceremony. Videos and photos taken during the ceremony, however, appeared to contradict Trump's claims. Numerous widely circulated images showed a crowd about one-third the size of the one that had gathered for Obama's 2009 inauguration, which attracted an estimated 1.8 million people.
Several hours after Trump's confrontation with the media, Spicer told reporters that the crowd at Trump's ceremony "was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period." The following morning, during an appearance on the NBC television program Meet the Press, Conway initially tried to brush off the controversy by downplaying the importance of the audience size at the inauguration ceremony. When she was pressed to explain why Spicer would make deliberately false statements about the size of the crowd, Conway said, "You're saying it's a falsehood, and they're giving—Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that." The show's host, Chuck Todd, responded, stating, "Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods." Conway retorted, "If we're going to keep referring to the press secretary in those types of terms, I think we're going to have to rethink our relationship here."
Conway's statement drew immediate and intense attention in the media and online, prompting massive public backlash and widespread protests. Critics and opponents of Trump's election to the presidency characterized the episode as clear evidence that the fledgling administration lacked credibility. While few of Trump's supporters endorsed speculative assertions that images of Trump's inauguration were altered to reduce the apparent size of the crowd, many in these circles interpreted the incident as yet another unwarranted media attack on Trump. "Alternative facts" quickly inspired many popular internet memes, and the notorious Meet the Press exchange proved to be one of the leading news stories of 2017. Spicer resigned his position as White House press secretary in July 2017, after only six months on the job, while Conway continued to serve as a Trump aide until 2020.
Journalist and author Michael Wolff claimed in his 2018 book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House that the "alternative facts" controversy simply resulted from Conway misspeaking. Wolff postulated that Conway meant to say "alternative information," which simply would have implied that further data regarding the crowd size at Trump's inauguration was available but was not being reported by the media. Presenting falsehoods as fact became a major problem during the Trump administration.
Bibliography
Hunt, Elle. "Trump's Inauguration Crowd: Sean Spicer's Claims versus the Evidence." Guardian, 22 Jan. 2017, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/22/trump-inauguration-crowd-sean-spicers-claims-versus-the-evidence. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Nielsen, Kevin. "Timeline of Donald Trump's 1st Weekend as President: Missteps, Two-Steps, and 'Alternative Facts.'" Global News, 22 Jan. 2017, globalnews.ca/news/3198227/timeline-of-donald-trumps-1st-weekend-as-president-missteps-two-steps-and-alternative-facts/. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Robertson, Lori, and Robert Farley. "The Facts on Crowd Size." FactCheck.org, 23 Jan. 2017, www.factcheck.org/2017/01/the-facts-on-crowd-size/. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Savransky, Rebecca. "'Alternative Facts' Tops List of 2017 Notable Quotes." The Hill, 12 Dec. 2017, thehill.com/homenews/news/364414-alternative-facts-tops-list-of-2017-notable-quotes. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Siddiqui, Sabrina, and Ben Jacobs. "Sean Spicer Resigns as Trump Press Secretary after Six Months." Guardian, 21 July 2017, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/21/sean-spicer-resigns-press-secretary-trump-white-house-feud. Accessed 8 Jan 2025.
Wehner, Peter. “Trump Has Made Alternative Facts a Way of Life.” The New York Times, 13 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/opinion/trump-has-made-alternative-facts-a-way-of-life.html. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
Wolff, Michael. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.Henry Holt and Company, 2018.