NEW YORK — Down is up. The sky is red. Dogs are birthing kittens. Facts? Nope. Try “alternative facts.”
The internet went wild after a top Trump adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said the administration was supplying the media with “alternative facts.” The comment came after she was asked why Trump press secretary Sean Spicer mischaracterized the inauguration as having the biggest crowd ever, both in person or around the world.
The term quickly became a popular hashtag on Twitter, where users supplied their own such facts, including “cigarettes are good for you” and “it’s not Monday. It is still the weekend.”
But even amid the snarky mockery, many users pointed to eerie similarities to George Orwell’s “1984,” a dystopian novel about a totalitarian regime.
