On a fake holiday amid ‘fake news’ and charges of a ‘fake presidency’: The rise of ‘fake’

And “Presidents Day,” is doubly fake. The official federal holiday is “George Washington’s Birthday.” Presidents Day is our customary name for the day. Think about that. We’re supposed to honor Franklin Pierce, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon today?

Also, think of the timing. In November we had Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. In December we had Christmas, then the New Year a week later. In January there was Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Then we had George Washington’s birthday. So six federal holidays in 100 days? What is this, Spain?

So a fake holiday is the perfect time to note the rise of the word “fake” in our news media.

In news coverage, the word “fake” has exploded since just around Election Day. The ignition: The liberal idea that Trump won the election because of “Fake News.” President Obama, in an appearance with Germany’s chancellor, took the occasion to warn the world about “fake news.” Also, BuzzFeed ran a story its editor billed as proof that “Fake news beat real news” in the weeks before the election.

Then newspapers started saying “fake news” helped Trump win.

This was all ridiculous, and conservatives and Trump saw it as such.

Made-up or totally distorted facts had been circulating the Internet, usually by email from your aunt Barb or your uncle Larry, since there was an Internet. Facebook allowed some idiots in Macedonia to monetize this, and suddenly Obama and the mainstream media decided it’s a huge threat — and for some reason they settled on the term “fake news.”

So conservatives and Trump appropriated the term. By the inauguration, “fake news” changed its meaning to mean media mess-ups, media bias, stories that Trump doesn’t like, or even — in the case of CNN — entire media companies.

“CNN is Fake News” was an amazing bit of concise, ultimately meaningless, memorable, Trumpian rhetoric. So when Trump launched his most over-the-top attack on the media, he used their own slur on them.

“Fake” became the most important adjective in politics. Armed with this word, Trump and his allies are now alleging that media aren’t merely slanted, they are utterly illegitimate. Their reports aren’t biased, they’re just “fake.”

So it was fitting when Mika Brzezinski said the Trump presidency “feels like a fake presidency.”

Whatever she meant by that, it has a sort of wisdom to it. Trump sometimes feels like he is *playing* president. Sometimes I expect to wake up from this dream. Sometimes you simply cannot believe this is going on, because of both his totally unpresidential behavior (both the outrageous and the entertaining), and because of the media’s historically bad performance.

“Is this real life?” you often can’t help but ask.

So on this fake holiday, amidst what feels at times like a fake presidency, amid constant charges of fake news, raise a glass. Toast “Presidents Day” with well-wishes to President Trump, who— in real life — is our president.

Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s commentary editor, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.