After Buttigieg Slams Trump over Nickname, Mad Magazine Steps In and Steals the Day
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg tried to be funny after he was given a new nickname by President Donald Trump, but Mad magazine stepped in and stole the spotlight.
On Friday, Trump tested out a new nickname for Buttigieg: “Alfred E. Neuman.”
“Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” Trump told Politico, referring to the iconic Mad magazine mascot.
Trump’s new nickname for Buttigieg might be an attack on his age — the South Bend, Indiana mayor is only 37 years old.
“We have a young man, Buttigieg,” Trump said. “He’s got a great chance, doesn’t he?”
“He’ll be great representing us against President Xi of China. That’ll be great. I want to be in that room, I wanna watch that one.”
OK, Trump referring to Mayor Pete as “Alfred E. Neuman” is genuinely hilarious pic.twitter.com/IlEdD7OizT
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 11, 2019
Buttigieg attempted to fire back at Trump on Friday by poking fun at the nickname and attacking Trump’s age. “I’ll be honest. I had to Google that,” he said, referring to Alfred E. Neuman.
“I guess it’s just a generational thing. I didn’t get the reference,” Buttigieg added.
Ouch! Mayor @Pete Buttigieg responds to @realDonaldTrump slam that he is “Alfred E Neuman” —“I had to Google that..I guess it’s a generational thing.” pic.twitter.com/ZL11noISYL
— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) May 11, 2019
Buttigieg clearly didn’t learn from those plagued by a Trump-given nickname in the past — it never works out well when politicians try to fire back at Trump.
While Trump’s reference to Alfred E. Neuman was a bit dated, Buttigieg’s response only gave the president’s nickname even more coverage — which means the nickname will probably stick to Buttigieg until his campaign withers away.
And Trump didn’t even have to fire back at the Indiana mayor because Mad magazine beat him to it.
“Who’s Pete Buttigieg? Must be a generational thing,” the magazine tweeted.
Who’s Pete Buttigieg? Must be a generational thing.
— MAD Magazine (@MADmagazine) May 11, 2019
That’s a really good burn by Mad, and it probably stings for the 2020 hopeful Democrat, who is significantly behind former Vice President Joe Biden, and Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris in a recent poll.
Buttigieg’s low score in the polls isn’t surprising because there’s nothing special about him — he’s a stereotypical wacky leftist. His policy proposals include ridiculous ideas like abolishing the electoral college and packing the Supreme Court with new seats.
“Who’s Pete Buttigieg?” is the perfect summary of Buttigieg’s failing presidential campaign.
Now he’s probably regretting his response to Trump’s nickname — maybe he should leave the jokes to professionals.
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