--- title: Kellyanne Conway: Sean Spicer Used 'Alternative Facts' description: Kellyanne Conway said White House press secretary Sean Spicer used "alternative facts" to describe inauguration crowds canonical: https://time.com/4642689/kellyanne-conway-sean-spicer-donald-trump-alternative-facts/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-22T16:26:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:51:49.931Z article:section: Politics og:title: Kellyanne Conway Defends White House's Falsehoods as 'Alternative Facts' og:description: Press Secretary Sean Spicer falsely said the inauguration crowd was the 'largest' ever og:url: https://time.com/4642689/kellyanne-conway-sean-spicer-donald-trump-alternative-facts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc3fa3c2e0c72153/6988b6b32dce0150649ebfec/kellyanne-conway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Vice President-Elect Mike Pence Speaks At Inaugural Event At D.C.'s Union Station og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kellyanne Conway Defends White House's Falsehoods as 'Alternative Facts' twitter:description: Press Secretary Sean Spicer falsely said the inauguration crowd was the 'largest' ever twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc3fa3c2e0c72153/6988b6b32dce0150649ebfec/kellyanne-conway.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kellyanne Conway Defends White House's Falsehoods as 'Alternative Facts' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 22, 2017 4:26 PM UTC  Counselor to President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway prepares to go on the air in front of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2017. Counselor to President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway prepares to go on the air in front of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2017. Carlos Barria—Reuters by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 22, 2017 4:26 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4642323/womens-march-washington-donald-trump-inauguration/)‘s counselor [Kellyanne Conway](http://time.com/4641016/kelly-anne-conway-memes/) said White House press secretary Sean Spicer used “alternative facts” when he falsely called the crowds at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.” Spicer on Saturday gave a five-minute statement to the press [riddled with falsehoods](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news) and claimed photos showing clearly that the audience for Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration was [significantly larger](http://time.com/4641381/donald-trump-inauguration-crowd/) than Trump’s on Friday was an attempt by the media to “minimize enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall.” Appearing on NBC’s _Meet the Press_, Conway staunchly defended Spicer, and said his untrue statements were “alternative facts.” When asked by host Chuck Todd why Spicer used his first appearance in front of the press to proclaim falsehoods, Conway said Todd was being “overly dramatic” about the statement. “You’re saying it’s a falsehood, and they’re giving— Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that,” she said. Todd countered Conway: “Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods.” Watch the exchange below. > [](https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/823184384559878144) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4642689/kellyanne-conway-sean-spicer-donald-trump-alternative-facts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4642689/kellyanne-conway-sean-spicer-donald-trump-alternative-facts/"},"headline":"Kellyanne Conway Defends White House's Falsehoods as 'Alternative Facts'","datePublished":"2017-01-22T16:26:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:51:49.931Z","description":"\"Alternative facts are not facts. 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