President Donald Trump became notorious for concocting nicknames for political opponents of him during the 2016 presidential campaign. During the Republican primaries, he gave no quarter to the likes of “Little” Marco Rubio and “Lyin’” Ted Cruz (even though they’re Trump cronies now that they’re no longer running against him for anything), and Trump’s use of disparaging nicknames played a role, although not as significant of a role as Trump’s anti-immigration extremism did, in the rise of Trump as a political figure. During the general election, Trump repeatedly referred to Hillary Clinton as “Crooked” Hillary and ruined her reputation in the eyes of enough Americans for Trump to eke out an Electoral College victory.
Now, the politician whose only two actual political skills are ruining others’ reputations and concocting disparaging nicknames for people who he politically opposes has all sorts of trouble trying to ruin the reputation of the strongest political adversary he’s ever faced, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In fact, Trump, even after Pelosi cancelled his State of the Union address because of the federal government shutdown, can’t come up with a disparaging nickname for Nancy, so he’s just referring to her on a first-name basis:
Being referred to on a first-name basis isn’t disparaging at all. In fact, it’s typically associated with success and admiration. I’m not a big fan of tennis, but nearly everybody knows who one is talking about when one refers to Serena. If Trump is referring to Nancy on a first-name basis, that’s an indicator that Trump is in a very weak position politically.
Nancy Pelosi is, unlike political adversaries of Trump that have come before her, has effectively opposed Trump. Trump’s approval rating is in decline, Trump’s disapproval rating is increasing, and the American people are increasingly opposing Trump and the federal government shutdown that he bragged his way into.