And here's the alternative news... Kellyanne Conway 'invents Bowling Green massacre' to defend Trump's immigration ban

  • Kellyanne Conway was defending Donald Trump's immigration ban on MSNBC
  • She cited a fictitious terrorist massacre in the US to justify the new policy
  • Conway then falsely claimed President Obama banned Iraqis for six months 
  • She had earlier coined the term 'alternative facts' to justify bogus information 

By David Gardner and Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 04:31 EST, 3 February 2017 | Updated: 05:19 EST, 3 February 2017

Donald Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway created a fictitious 'Bowling Green massacre' to defend Donald Trump's controversial immigration ban.

The 50-year-old from Camden, New Jersey relayed the bogus information to support her boss during a live television interview. 

It is believed she mistook the arrest of two Iraqi refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for attacks the same men perpetrated on US troops in their home country. 

During the live broadcast, she claimed the attack happened on US soil, which was incorrect.  

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Kellyanne Conway 'invented' a bogus terrorist atrocity in an effort to justify Donald Trump's controversial immigration ban on several Muslim-majority countries during a live TV interview

Conway, center, who coined the term 'alternative facts', criticized legitimate news organizations for failing to cover the 'Bowling Green massacre' which never actually happened

Conway, right, claimed: 'I bet this is brand new information to people' during the TV interview

She told MSNBC's Chris Matthews: 'I bet it's brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee programme after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre.' 

Continuing with her bogus reference, Conway criticized legitimate news organisations for their failure to report on an event which never happened. 

She said: 'Most people don't know that because it didn't get covered.'

Conway's latest use of 'alternative facts' immediately attracted the scorn of social media.

Former Star Trek actor Will Wheaton, who appears as himself on the Big Bang Theory attacked Conway on Twitter with a satirical tweet comparing her to the disaster-prone air hostess played by Julie Hagarty in 1980 hit movie Airplane.

The White House didn't return a call for clarification early today, but it's thought that Ms Conway may have been referring to two Iraqis - Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 25, and Waad Ramadan Alwan, 41 - who were jailed for taking part in attacks against US troops in their homeland

Both men did, indeed, live in Bowling Green, Kentucky, when they were arrested in 2011 - but there's no evidence of them carrying a 'massacre' or any other violent offence on US soil.

Conway, left, also falsely claimed President Obama introduced a six-month ban on Iraqis

Ms Conway's comparison between Mr Trump's controversial executive order temporarily banning entry to the US to people from specific Muslim nations and a 'six-month ban' on Iraqis allegedly instituted by President Obama was also debunked.

Mr Obama did order a review of vetting procedures for Iraqi citizens in the wake of the capture of Hammadi and Alwan, but it wasn't a ban on travel to the US.

The debacle comes less than a fortnight after Ms Conway defended false claims made about the size of the crowd at Mr Trump's inauguration as 'alternative facts'.

She said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave 'alternative facts' when he described the Washington crowd on January 20 as 'the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration'.

Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie claimed the president was 'playing with fire' and risked making the nation less safe with his travel ban.

Writing in the New York Times, Jolie, 41, said Mr Trump's decision to turn away refugees would cause 'more instability, hatred and violence'.

'Refugees are men, women and children caught in the fury of war, or the cross hairs of persecution. Far from being terrorists, they are often the victims of terrorism themselves,' she claimed.

'Every government must balance the needs of its citizens with its international responsibilities. But our response must be measured and should be based on facts, not fear.'

The actress - whose father Jon Voight is a Trump stalwart - referred to her six children, who she said were 'all born in foreign lands and are proud American citizens'.

'If we send a message that it is acceptable to close the door to refugees, or to discriminate among them on the basis of religion, we are playing with fire. We are lighting a fuse that will burn across continents, inviting the very instability we seek to protect ourselves against'.

The Hollywood star has shied away from the spotlight following her split from Brad Pitt. She said the world was witnessing 'the worst refugee crisis since World War Two'.

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