RantCrush Top 5: January 23, 2017

On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump said during a speech at the CIA headquarters that the media has published false information and “invented” a feud between his team and the intelligence community. That narrative is debatable–Trump himself criticized the CIA and other intelligence agencies just a few weeks ago, calling them “Nazis.”

Trump also claimed that about 1.5 million people attended his inauguration, though aerial photos clearly show it was way less crowded than Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Sean Spicer went so far as to say that Trump’s inauguration had the largest audience ever, “both in person and around the globe.” That claim has also been debunked. But when NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Kellyanne Conway on Sunday why the new president and his press secretary made false statements on their first day in office, her answer was even more baffling. “Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts,” she said.

“Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods,” Chuck Todd tells Pres. Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway this morning. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/Ao005dQ13r

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 22, 2017

Todd pointed out that “alternative facts” really means claims that are “not true.” But that didn’t stop the people of Twitter from coming up with some of their own “alternative facts.”

Me: Hi, SAT Board, I need you to change my test scores. I didn’t get the questions wrong. I provided #alternativefacts @MeetThePress

— Jenni Tilton-Flood (@jtiltonflood) January 22, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.