He didn't, of course, but he sure has popularized it. By one count, he has uttered the word "fake" more than 400 times since he was elected, usually applied to stories, journalists or news organizations.
"I'm so proud I've been able to convince people how fake it is," he bragged to Lou Dobbs, one of his favorite media toadies, on Fox Business Network last fall, talking about mainstream media reporting. He specifically called out CBS and NBC, and of course, he has consistently trashed the New York Times.
And yet, just over the past few days, there he was, sitting down nicely with the publisher of the New York Times, practically begging for positive treatment from what he, remarkably, referred to as his newspaper.