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Kellyanne Conway did not say liberal women hate her for being intelligent, attractive
The false assertion that White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told an anonymous reporter that liberal women hate her for being smart and beautiful showed up on a website that made it especially confusing to identify it as fake news.
A undated post on LondonWebNews.com said Conway told a media member at a Washington luncheon that left-leaning females dislike Conway because of her "striking beauty and intellect." The post was published June 1, 2017, and updated June 13.
Facebook users flagged the post as part of the social media site’s efforts to fight fake news, and this one does appear to be contrived.
The post didn’t name the reporter, media outlet or event, and only featured the partial quote allegedly from Conway. The article did say pundits attacked Conway for the comment. We couldn’t find any instance of a reliable media report that corroborated the story, or any pundit who reacted to it.
The post also said Conway drew criticism on social media, but good luck finding anything on this specific (fake) comment that doesn’t track back to LondonWebNews.com.
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The site does not appear to be filled entirely with fictional stories, like some fake news websites. It looked to include posts taken from many places, including reliable news sources. One post, for example, was about the June 14, 2017, Grenfell Tower fire in London. This kind of mix would make it very difficult for a reader to be able to discern this particular item is fabricated.
The site’s disclaimer said only that the site made "no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability" of anything it posted. "Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk," it warned.
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We tried to contact LondonNewsWeb.com via the email address provided on the site but didn’t receive a response. There was no byline listed with the story.
We did reach a White House spokesman, who didn’t want to give an official comment about the post.
But there’s no proof Conway made this comment, either way. It looks as if the website (or its original source) made the story up entirely.
We rate this statement Pants On Fire!
Our Sources
LondonWebNews.com, "Liberal Women Hate Me Because Of My "Striking Beauty And Intellect", Says Kellyanne Conway," June 1, 2017
Interview with Steven Cheung, White House spokesman, June 15, 2017
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More by Joshua Gillin
Kellyanne Conway did not say liberal women hate her for being intelligent, attractive
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