Trump's nicknames for rivals, from 'Rocket Man' to 'Pocahontas'
Trump’s nicknames for rivals, from ‘Rocket Man’ to ‘Pocahontas’
President Donald Trump is known for giving his political opponents and critics nicknames, especially on social media.
Read on for a list of Trump’s most iconic nicknames.
Sloppy Steve
Steve Bannon used to be in the president’s good graces, but the pair has had a very public falling out. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and current Breitbart executive, was quoted in a blistering tell-all book, painting the president’s son in a negative light.
Trump heavily rebuked Bannon in a public statement, saying Bannon “lost his mind” after he was “fired” from the White House.
“Steve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books,” Trump said.
Ahead of the release of the controversial book by Michael Wolff, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” Trump slammed both the book and Bannon on social media – giving Bannon his nickname.
“Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve,” Trump warned.
Trump reiterated the “Sloppy Steve” nickname in another tweet, in which he praised the Mercer family – wealthy conservative mega-donors – for having “dropped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon.”
Rebekah Mercer recently offered a rare public rebuff of Bannon, saying her family has “provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements.” Robert Mercer announced late last year that he would sell his stake in Breitbart News and distanced himself from some views associated with Bannon and the right-wing publication.
Little Rocket Man
Trump has never really had kind things to say about North Korea leader Kim Jong Un – referring to him on Twitter as a “maniac” a “whack job” and “rocket man” – which is a “President Trump original,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News.
Trump tried out the new “rocket man” moniker at the 2017 United Nations General Assembly.
He’s also tried out the moniker on Twitter.
“The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch,” he tweeted.
In additon, Trump has also called the North Korean leader a “sick puppy.”
Pocahontas
The president reused one of his favorite nicknames for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., while he honored Navajo code talkers at the White House Monday. At the event – held to honor the Native Americans who used their native language during World Wars I and II to help the U.S. – Trump mocked Warren as “Pocahontas.”
Trump has often criticized Warren, specifically over her claim to be of Native American heritage.
“She’s got about as much Indian blood as I have. Her whole life was based on a fraud,” Trump told the New York Times in May 2016.
Warren’s potential Native American heritage was first questioned during her 2012 Senate run.
Trump also calls Warren “goofy.”
Jeff Flakey
Like Trump and Sen. Bob Corker, Trump and Republican Sen. Jeff Flake have been feuding for quite some time. In announcing his retirement from the Senate in October, Flake slammed both the Republican Party and Trump.
And Flake was recently caught on a hot mic saying if the GOP “becomes the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we’re toast.” That comment gave Trump the opportunity to dub the Arizona senator “Jeff Flakey.”
“Sen. Jeff Flake(y), who is unelectable in the Great State of Arizona (quit race, anemic polls) was caught (purposely) on ‘mike’ saying bad things about your favorite President. He’ll be a NO on tax cuts because his political career anyway is ‘toast,’” Trump tweeted on Nov. 19.
Al ‘Frankenstien’
After Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was accused of kissing and groping Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden during a USO tour in 2006, Trump blasted the lawmaker on Twitter.
“The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?” Trump wrote, including an apparent misspelling of “Frankenstein.” “And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?”
Liddle’ Bob Corker
The feud between Trump and Sen. Bob Corker has been going on for some time, but the Tennessee senator finally got a nickname Tuesday.
“The Failing [New York Times] set Liddle’ Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that’s what I am dealing with!” Trump tweeted on Oct. 10.
Corker slammed Trump in a recent interview with the newspaper and said the president is so reckless that he might be “on the path to World War III.” A transcript from the interview revealed that Corker acknowledged the conversation was on the record.
Wacky Congresswoman Wilson
Trump and Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., are locked in a public feud involving a Gold Star family – earning the Florida congresswoman her nickname.
“The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson (D), who was SECRETELY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!” Trump tweeted Oct. 19.
Wilson accused Trump of making insensitive remarks to the pregnant widow of one of the four American soldiers killed during an attack in Niger. The White House, including chief of staff John Kelly, has ardently defended the president’s comments.
Crooked Hillary
Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump would often hit his opponent, Hillary Clinton, with criticisms on social media. Trump gave her the nickname “Crooked Hillary,” usually when he mentioned her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
The first time Trump tweeted about “Crooked Hillary” was in April 2016.
Sometimes Trump switched it up and would call the former first lady “Lyin’ Hillary.”
Little Marco
The rhetoric among the Republican presidential contenders hit a different kind of low as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio went after Trump for having “small hands” and Trump started to call the senator “Little Marco.” The two also discussed the size of Trump’s hands – and other things – during a GOP debate in March 2016.
Trump first tweeted the “Little Marco” nickname in February 2016.
Lyin’ Ted
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump didn’t start out as enemies during the 2016 campaign, but the two Republican contenders were soon at each other’s throats. Trump dubbed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” when he went after him for his immigration polies in a campaign ad in March 2016.
Low Energy Jeb
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also got a Trump nickname when he was a 2016 Republican presidential contender – “Low energy Jeb Bush.”
Despite the exclamation point in Bush’s campaign logo, Trump started to use the nickname to criticize his opponent during the campaign. Trump told Business Insider that there wasn’t a backstory to the nickname, he “just seemed” like a “low energy” person to Trump.
1 for 38
When Ohio Gov. John Kasich attempted to team up with Cruz during the Republican primary to deny Trump the party’s nomination, Trump took to Twitter to dole out a new nickname. And Kasich became “1 for 38.”
Trump assigned Kasich the name because he won only one state in the primary and lost the others, Trump said in a statement in August 2016. Eventually Kasich would also be referred to as “1 for 42” by the eventual president.
Crazy Bernie
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the white-haired independent socialist who became a progressive icon during the 2016 election, earned himself the nickname “Crazy Bernie” from Trump.
Trump first tweeted about “Crazy Bernie” in May 2016 when he criticized “Crooked Hillary” for “looking very bad against” Sanders.
Crying Chuck
After Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., criticized Trump for firing F.B.I. Director James Comey, Trump hit him right back – with an original nickname.
“Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, “I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.” Then acts so indignant,” he tweeted on May 9, 2017.
Schumer shed some tears when he discussed Trump’s immigration ban earlier in 2017.
But Schumer wasn’t crying earlier this month after Trump agreed to the Democrats’ short-term debt-limit increase and Hurricane Harvey aid.
Sleepy Eyes
Trump has thought NBC reporter Chuck Todd has looked “sleepy” long before the election or campaign. He first dubbed Todd “sleepy” in a 2001 tweet, but upgraded his nickname to “Sleepy Eyes” by 2012.
Dumb as a Rock Mika
From writer Touré to National Review, Trump has called many things “dumb as a rock.” But Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earned the nickname in July after she and Joe Scarborough criticized the president.
“Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses,” he tweeted. “Too bad!”
His attack on the news anchor continued, as he called her “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and said she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” when she came to Mar-a-Lago around New Year’s Eve.
Psycho Joe
In a Twitter rant about his dislike of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Trump dubbed host Joe Scarborough “Psycho Joe.”
Crazy Megyn
Trump’s comments about then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly were often criticized and deemed misogynistic by critics. During their feud, Trump took to calling Kelly “Crazy Megyn.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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