Stephen Colbert has been fighting alternative facts since 2003

Stephen Colbert has been fighting ‘alternative facts’ since 2003 when The Colbert Report was just beginning.

It’s a rough time in history to be a fact. Society is so far gone from the truth that the term ‘alternative facts’ has become a thing — and will remain in the zeitgeist or a very long time. We can thank Kellyanne Conway for burping that one up all over America, but it’s not a new concept.

The idea of facts being anything other than what they are has been a sentiment long held by many conservative politicians. It’s something that was so prevalent back in the 2000s that an entire character was built on the concept.

Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report existed to be an attack on the anti-facts crowd, which means the man behind the character is the godfather to the movement against ‘alternative facts’.

This clip — which was actually used as a teaser or The Colbert Report before it aired — shows that it has been the late night host’s mission to take on ‘alternative facts’ since before that was a term. As we wee in the video, Colbert is attacking fake facts spread by the media and liberal politicians, something that has become a rallying cry in America these days.

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That was over a decade ago, when The Colbert Report was still in the final stages of development. Who could have guessed that 16 years later, we’d elect a president who was basically a caricature of a late night parody.

Splitsider has a longer piece on Colbert’s rivalry with alternative facts. Now is as good a time as any to dig back into the past and realize that this issue we have with the truth is one that has always been out there.

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We can thank Colbert for never letting us forget it.