The phrase fake news moved into mainstream political language during the 2016 United States presidential campaign and the years that followed, when it was repeatedly used to criticise mainstream news coverage. CNN became one of the outlets most often singled out by that criticism, so the network's name became closely linked with the phrase in speeches, interviews and social media posts. Short clips isolating the line then spread as reaction sounds in political memes, where they are still used to question a report's accuracy or motives in an instantly recognisable way.