Ivanka Trump Misquoted Einstein And The Internet Loves It

Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter, attends the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event during the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 8. She is under fire by Democrats who want to know whether she revealed... Michael Kappeler/Reuters

First daughter Ivanka Trump found herself mocked on social media after an old tweet she wrote misquoting Albert Einstein resurfaced on Sunday.

Her quote, which was written in June 2013, was picked up by one eagle-eyed Twitter user and widely shared, with people unsure if she simply misquoted a longer quote from Einstein that was actually mocking the idea of changing facts, or whether she was sharing something Einstein never said at all.

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein ‪#quote ‪#sunday" Ivanka wrote in the old post on Twitter.

Her old post prompted people to share their own misattributed quotes, with one writing: "Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like its heaven on earth. ~Pol Pot," one user sharing: "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach: all the damn vampires - Emily Bronte," and another adding: "Alright stop, collaborate and listen" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

The fact that Einstein never said any such thing only makes this tweet that much more perfect. https://t.co/ZCjViO1CpS

— A Feast for Dermestids (@colindickey) July 23, 2017

The criticism of her initial tweet appeared to begin when one Twitter user shared it and wrote: "The fact that Einstein never said any such thing only makes this tweet that much more perfect," prompting an argument between those who backed Ivanka, those who said the quote wasn't real and a third group who said the quote was taken out of context and was in fact criticizing those who change facts.

Aside from the Twitter storm Ivanka's tweet inspired, the first daughter is unlikely to be impressed that the old tweet resurfaced, given how poorly the phrase 'alternative facts' played when used by members of her father's team to describe their inaccurate reports on topics such as the number of people who attended Trump's inauguration.

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