‘Fake News’ Godfather Dan Rather lectures Kellyanne Conway on ‘facts and truth,’ Chris Matthews laughs
Dan Rather is the “Godfather” of fake news, arguing that President Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service record was “fake but accurate” in 2004, is lecturing the Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, on the truth.
Chris Matthews invited him on this evening’s Hardball to attack Conway’s remarks on “alternative facts” to explain away the bogus claims of Press Secretary Sean Spicer on the inauguration crowd.
Rather’s “None of us can go into in this world of alternative facts” was so absurd that Matthews can be heard laughing out loud.
His close was even worse: “facts, and the truth . . . are at the very foundation of our democracy.”
Rather gave examples of indisputable facts: there’s snow in Alaska and sand in Saudi Arabia.
Matthews began by playing a clip of Conway’s appearance on Meet the Press.
CHUCK TODD: You did not answer the question of why the president asked the White House press secretary to come out in front of the podium for the first time and utter a falsehood. Why did he do that? It undermines the credibility of the entire White House press office on day one.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: Don’t be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. You’re saying it’s a falsehood and they’re giving, Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that. But the point is —
TODD: Alternative facts? Alternative facts: four of the five facts he uttered.
CONWAY: Hey Chuck, hey Chuck —TODD: Four of the five facts he uttered are just not true. Look: alternative facts are just not facts. They’re falsehoods.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Dan, there’s a new phrase, and I think Kellyanne is as smart as a whip. I think that one was a mistake. That one was a strike-out. Because somebody, I might as well do it: somebody’s going to do it: alt-facts. It’s not even going to be “alternative.” It’s going to be “alt-facts.” And you know what that means. That’s coming.
DAN RATHER: To say it was unfortunate is to put it mildly. This was a big mistake. Listen: we cannot, we simply cannot. I don’t mean journalists, I mean writers per se. None of us can go into in this world of alternative facts. Listen: two plus two equals four. That’s a fact. There’s no alternative to it. [Matthews can be heard chuckling off-camera.]
Water runs downhill, that’s a fact. It snows in Alaska. There are sand dunes in Saudi Arabia. These are facts. This idea of alternative facts, this is a propaganda tool. And look, you and I know that Ms. Conway is a smart lady and she didn’t just offhandedly say this. They’ve made this point before. I don’t think that even most of the very—Trump supporters who really believe in him—want us to deal in a world of alternative facts. Facts, and the truth, or as close as is humanly possible to get to the truth, are at the very foundation of our democracy and dealing with an informed citizenry.
