I think it was more heavily popularized immediately after Wikileaks' DNC email leaks by the people who opposed the guy you're talking about. Then, the guy you're talking about adopted it as a counter-attack in order to devalue the term. His campaign turned the weapon back on its source. If you were paying attention to how the term "fake news" evolved, it started as a weapon for the left and then was adopted by the right. It's a great way to censor or discredit information that is inconvenient for you, regardless of your political leaning.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2015-05-01%202...