Trump has chosen a nickname for Pete Buttigieg

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Sound the trumpets. South Bend Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has a new moniker, courtesy of the nicknamer-in-chief.

During an interview with Politico on Friday, President Trump referred to Buttigieg as "Alfred E. Neuman," the "iconic boyish" Mad Magazine cartoon character.

Buttigieg cracked a smile when asked about the news and said that his ignorance about the character was a "generational thing." He admitted he found the joke to be "kind of funny," but added that Trump should really be focusing on his job instead.

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The nickname is a change of pace for Trump, who usually adds simple adjectives before his opponents' first names, like "Crazy Bernie" for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Perhaps Oprah Winfrey stole Trump's original idea for a name-centric insult for Buttigieg, after Winfrey dubbed him "Buttabeep, Buttaboop," albeit on friendlier terms. Read the rest of Trump's interview at Politico.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.