NEW YORK — In the wake of incorrect or unprovable statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump and some White House aides, one truth is undeniable: Sales are soaring for George Orwell’s 1984.
Orwell’s classic dystopian tale of a society in which facts are distorted and suppressed in a cloud of “newspeak” was in the top 5 on Amazon.com as of midday Tuesday. The sales bump comes after the administration’s assertions that Trump’s inaugural had record attendance and Trump’s unfounded allegation that millions of illegal votes were cast against him last fall.
WATCH: ‘Alternative Facts’ dominates President Trump’s first weekend
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway coined an instant catchphrase Sunday when she called Trump’s claims about crowd size “alternative facts,” bringing comparisons by some on social media to 1984. Orwell’s book has long been standard classroom reading.
Many people online pointed out the similarities between the concept of “alternative facts” – and what George Orwell’s 1984 portrays. The book is about a totalitarian regime that created its own facts as it went along.
The term has since become a popular hashtag on Twitter, as users have felt free to supply their own “alternative facts.” Among them: “cigarettes are good for you” and “it’s not Monday. It is still the weekend.”
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