<P> On 21 June 1982, Julian Critchley of The Times (London) wrote "President Galtieri had pushed her under the bus which the gossips had said was the only means of her removal ." </P> <P> The phrase has been widely popularized by sports journalists since 2004 and was picked up by the mainstream media during the 2008 political primary season . It has frequently been used to describe various politicians distancing themselves from suddenly unpopular or controversial figures whom the candidate has previously allied themselves with . David Segal, a writer for The Washington Post, calls the expression "the cliché of the 2008 campaign". </P> <P> In a March 2008 NPR report, the linguist Geoff Nunberg noted that "under the bus" "has appeared in more than 400 press stories on the campaign over the last six months". </P> <P> After Julian Critchley, a relatively early use is attributed by the website Double - Tongued Dictionary to a 1991 article in the Colorado Springs Gazette - Telegraph . </P>

Where did the phrase throw you under the bus come from