‘YOU HAVE TO PUNCH DOWN’

Donald Trump Explains Why He Uses Nasty Nicknames Against Rivals

The former president said he does it because he feels they need to be put back in their place.

Donald Trump has tried to explain why he uses nicknames on his political rivals, including former New Jersey governor and 2024 presidential wannabe “Sloppy” Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. “Ada” Hutchinson (real name Asa.) In a video posted by Trump’s 2024 War Room campaign, Trump says he is often told by people not to “punch down” on his enemies, but feels that “sometimes it’s necessary to talk badly about those that for no reason other than politics speak badly about you.” Trump said he does this “otherwise the people that love you don’t know whether or not they’re for real, are they saying the truth or not? So sometimes you have to punch down and you have to say what’s happening otherwise they won’t understand, it’s not fair for them.” Trump notably left “Meatball Ron”–for Florida Governor and 2024 opponent Ron DeSantis–out of the video, instead vaguely describing those he calls out as “bad people” who need to be put in their place. “People like this are very destructive and you have to tell the voters what it's all about,” Trump said, without referencing the numerous cases he faces in a number of U.S. courts over his alleged bad behavior.

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