ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that challenge with an examination of “fake news” as a discursive weapon in Donald J. Trump’s tweets as president. Trump’s tweets calling Russia coverage “fake news,” for example, framed allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election as a Democratic excuse for Trump’s victory. Trump’s calling negative stories “fake news” also provides skeptics of the professional journalism with a circular argument against stories that contradict their world view: the stories must be fake because their sources are fake; their sources must be fake because the stories are fake. Trump’s appropriation of “fake news,” however, has contributed to politicization of the phrase, blurring that distinction for the public. Widespread adoption among Trump’s supporters and anti-Trump Republicans alike of “fake news” as an epithet for critical reporting has also contributed to a partisan divide on the meaning of “fake news".
