Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway cites a massacre that never happened to defend travel ban

Key US President Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway has taken "alternative facts" to a new level.

During a Thursday interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Conway defended President Donald Trump's travel ban related to seven majority-Muslim countries.

However in doing so, she made a reference to two Iraqi refugees whom she described as the masterminds behind "the Bowling Green Massacre."

"Most people don't know that because it didn't get covered (by the media)," Conway said.

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The Bowling Green Massacre didn't get covered because it didn't happen. There has never been a terrorist attack in Bowling Green, Kentucky, carried out by Iraqi refugees or anyone else.

Conway was likely referring to two Iraqi citizens living in Bowling Green who were arrested in 2011 and eventually sentenced to federal prison for attempting to send weapons and money to al-Qaeda in Iraq for the purpose of killing US soldiers, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi was sentenced to life in federal prison, and Waad Ramadan Alwan, 31 to 40 years in federal prison, followed by a life term of supervised release. Both men pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges.

Both men admitted having taken part in attacks against US troops in Iraq, not in Bowling Green.

After a wave of criticism, Conway corrected herself on Friday, posting on Twitter that: "Honest mistakes abound."

The phrase "Bowling Green massacre" was the top trending topic on Twitter on Friday as thousands of social media users mocked Conway.

Even Chelsea Clinton weighed in.

- Washington Post, Reuters