This 40-year-old Doctor Who quote perfectly sums up the 'alternative facts' debate

A scene from a 1977 episode of Doctor Who has shed some light on Donald Trump’s press secretary’s “alternative facts” of the inauguration.

Gizmodo unearthed the clip from the cult sci-fi show where the Doctor is trying to solve a vicious conflict between two alien species, and what he says sounds pretty familiar.

Gizmodo – This Doctor Who quote About ‘alternative facts’… | Facebook This Doctor Who quote About ‘alternative facts’ sounds awfully relatable 40 years later. http://io9.gizmodo.com/doctor-who-quote-about-alternative-facts-sounds-awfully-1791490382?rev=1485121652417

The fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, tells his would-be assistant: “You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common”.

“They don’t alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views”.

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Weirdly enough, we’re just a day on from the 40th anniversary of the episode, which first aired on January 22 1977, two days after Jimmy Carter’s inauguration and back when Trump was still a sprightly 31-year-old.

The new White House press secretary Sean Spicer was ridiculed for disputing how many people attended the inauguration. The woman who led Donald Trump’s campaign, Kellyane Conway, was then equally mocked for telling NBC Spicer was just providing “alternative facts” about the day.

We should probably all stick with the Doctor on this one.