Kellyanne Conway Calling White House Lies 'Alternative Facts' Is Gaslighting

We're not even done with inauguration weekend, and the Trump administration is already setting some dangerous precedents.

In case you missed it, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer went on a tirade about the press' coverage of the inauguration and claimed Friday's gathering was "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe."

However, this claim was clearly untrue.

CNN did a wonderful job to refute Spicer's claims that Trump's inaugural address was better attended than the press suggested (and actually proved thanks to a side-by-side picture of Obama's and Trump's inaugural crowds) and other falsehoods that were scattered throughout his rebuke.

Side note: I think it's particularly dangerous when a press secretary tells the press what they "should be covering."

Now, here's White House counselor Kellyanne Conway speaking with Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press" in an interview in which she claims Spicer's untrue remarks were merely "alternative facts."

I'm sorry, but this is the definition of gaslighting.

Kellyanne, and by extension the White House, is essentially trying to manipulate us into believing maybe Spicer's falsehoods were facts after all, maybe we're imagining things and maybe we're just overreacting.

In addition to telling Todd he was "overly dramatic" (*cough, gaslighting, cough*), Kellyanne said,

You're saying it's a falsehood, and they're giving -- Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that.

Wait, how does that song go again?

You say tomato, I say tomato, you say falsehood, I say alternative facts that are basically like facts but alternative so yeah you're being overly dramatic. LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF!

No, Kellyanne. Let's not call the whole thing off.

Thankfully, Todd was able to call her out on the use of such a ridiculous term as "alternative facts." He replied,

Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods.

Speaking of "alternative facts," Kellyanne went on to claim Saturday's Women's March was somehow in reaction to President Obama and not President Trump, who has previously bragged about sexual assault and whose policies are damaging to women across our nation.

Hopefully, we can all be adamant going forward to never take an "alternative fact" as a statement anywhere near the truth.

Citations: Kellyanne Conway Defends White House's Falsehoods as 'Alternative Facts' (Time)