Trump says 'fake' is 'one of the greatest of all terms I've come up with'
President Trump seemed to suggest he deserves credit for the creation of the word "fake," or perhaps the phrase "fake news," while speaking with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the launch episode of Huckabee's TBN show Saturday night.
"The media is — really, the word, I think one of the greatest of all terms I've come up with is 'fake,'" Trump said. "I guess other people have used it, perhaps, over the years, but I've never noticed it." If Trump is indeed claiming the word or phrase is primarily of his origination, this would not be the first time he has been incorrect in that regard: In May, the president claimed to have coined the phrase "priming the pump," which was popularized as an economic term in the 1930s.
Trump also defended his decision to throw paper towels to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, claiming he threw the towels at the crowd's request. "They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels, and I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people, and they were screaming, and they were loving everything," he said. "I was having fun; they were having fun. They said, 'Throw 'em to me! Throw 'em to me, Mr. President!' So next day [critics] said, ‘Oh it was so disrespectful to the people.' It was just a made-up thing. And also when I walked in, the cheering was incredible." Trump accused the news media of deceptively lowering the volume of the cheers.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Watch the entirety of Trump's interview here. The towel remarks are around the 8-minute mark, and "fake" comes up about a minute later.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Ryanair/SpaceX: could Musk really buy the airline?Talking Point Irish budget carrier has become embroiled in unlikely feud with the world’s wealthiest man
-
Claudette Colvin: teenage activist who paved the way for Rosa ParksIn The Spotlight Inspired by the example of 19th century abolitionists, 15-year-old Colvin refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus
-
5 contentious cartoons about Donald Trump at DavosCartoons Artists take on weaponized tariffs, a cheeky offering, and more
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
