Donald Trump unveils a new nickname for Bernie Sanders
In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee mocked Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton for losing the West Virginia primary on Tuesday to the "crazy" Sanders.
"Big wins in West Virginia and Nebraska. Get ready for November - Crooked Hillary, who is looking very bad against Crazy Bernie, will lose!" Trump wrote, using his preferred moniker for Clinton.
He continued in a second tweet: "I don't want to hit Crazy Bernie Sanders too hard yet because I love watching what he is doing to Crooked Hillary. His time will come!"
Despite Sanders' win in West Virginia, Clinton still has an overwhelming advantage in pledged delegates and unpledged, "superdelegates," making her the all-but-certain Democratic presidential nominee.
Early on in the presidential cycle, Trump adopted a campaign tactic of attaching a derogatory nickname to each of his opponents, and repeating the nickname ad nauseam. The real-estate mogul's supporters chanted "Lyin' Ted" at campaign rallies after Trump rolled out the nickname earlier this year, while "Little Marco" often prompted laughter and jeers from audiences at Trump events.
"You have to brand people a certain way when they're your opponent," Trump said at a rally in March.
It's a tactic that's worked well for the real-estate magnate, who recently told The New York Times' Mark Leibovich that his penchant for developing nicknames was "an instinct."
When Sen. Ted Cruz confronted a pro-Trump protester in Indiana before the state's primary, the Trump supporter shouted back "Lyin' Ted" while the senator attempted to disprove Trump's claims about how he would build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Trump's rivals have attempted to replicate the presumptive nominee's nicknaming to little success. Cruz grasped at several nicknames during the cycle that failed to stick, while Democrats' attempts to brand Trump "Dangerous Donald" last week were not particularly well received.