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On the conventionalization of impoliteness formulae

The case of Trump’s fake news insult

ORCiD logo with link | University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Published online: 4 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00140.bou
Abstract
Insults are a well-recognized form of conventionalized impoliteness, yet little research explores their proliferation and conventionalization. This study analyzes Trump’s initial use of fake news as an insult during and after a 2017 press conference, followed by a diachronic examination of his usage of it on X (then Twitter) through January 2021. Through these two case studies, fake news is shown to have rapidly evolved into a conventionalized insult that can be used as a personalized negative assertion (e.g., “You are fake news!”) and as third-person negative references either as a stand-alone insult (e.g., “He is fake news!”) or as part of pejorative nicknames (e.g., “Fake News CNN”). Its spread was driven not only by Trump’s notoriety but also by the media’s amplification of it that inadvertently reinforced its use among Trump, his supporters, and others.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on insults and Trump’s political rhetoric
    • 2.1What is impoliteness?
    • 2.2Previous studies on insults
    • 2.3Previous studies on Trump’s rhetoric
  • 3.Case Study 1: Trump’s tirade against fake news on January 11, 2017
    • 3.1January 11, 2017: The introduction of the Trumpian fake news insult
    • 3.2Coinage, reactions, and innovations of the fake news insult used on January 11–12, 2017
      • 3.2.1You are fake news!
      • 3.2.2FAKE NEWS organizations
    • 3.3Discussion of case study 1
  • 4.Forms and functions of the fake news insult in Trump’s X posts during his first term as president
    • 4.1Fake News nicknames
    • 4.2Other personalized third-person negative references
    • 4.3Discussion of case study 2
  • 5.Discussion: Is fake news a conventionalized insult?
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Declaration of conflicting interests
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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