It was actually a fairly bipartisan term used to identify trivially disprovable stories. The right wing tended to be more political ("Obama is a muslim communi

It was actually a fairly bipartisan term used to identify trivially disprovable stories. The right wing tended to be more political ("Obama is a muslim communist who wants your guns") while left wing fake news tended to lean more towards new age, non-evidence-based "wellness" ("this juice cleanse will prevent cancer"). Trump, in what was quite frankly the smartest political move he's ever made, turned it on it's head and basically started using it to discredit actual stories that painted him in a bad light (inauguration numbers, etc).