Joe HIDEN’: Trump launches Biden nickname in comment on Kennedy-Markey Democrat primary

‘Sleepy Joe’ is no more, say hello to ‘Joe Hiden’. US President Donald Trump rolled out an upgraded nickname for his rival in a tweet about how a contentious party primary supposedly proves the Democrats have become too radical.

“When a Kennedy loses a Democrat Primary in Massachusetts, by a lot, it just shows how far LEFT that party has gone,” Trump tweeted out on Wednesday, noting that “Joe Hiden’ will never be able to hold them back.”

The night before, sitting Senator Ed Markey got 54 percent of the vote in the primary contest against Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III, scion of the famous Kennedy clan.

Trump is well known for coming up with disparaging nicknames for rivals, with ‘Low Energy’ Jeb Bush going a long way to win him the 2016 Republican primary and ‘Crooked Hillary’ Clinton used to great effect in that year’s presidential election. 

‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden has never been as effective, especially after the former senator and vice president suddenly rose to obliterate all contenders in the Democratic primaries and emerge as the party’s nominee. For most of the summer, however, Biden remained in the basement of his Delaware home, where he was just “fine” according to senior Democrat operatives. The new nickname plays up that fact – and was a big hit among both Trump supporters and erstwhile skeptics, quickly trending on social media. 

Perhaps the best measure of ‘Joe Hiden’s’ effectiveness was the reaction from Democrats, who responded with an onslaught of accusations that Trump “hid in a bunker” or “used tear gas and troops” during the riots outside the White House in June.

Trump’s chief criticism of Biden in recent weeks has been that the Democratic nominee is but a front for the radicals within the party, from his running mate Kamala Harris – the California Senator consistently described as “the most liberal” – to the Democratic socialists led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), quicker to endorse Biden than his former boss Barack Obama.

Read more

Obama endorses Biden for president in long-expected video

While Democrats are united in their disdain for Trump, the party is well and truly divided about what they want to do if and when they take the reins of power. The Massachusetts primary showcased this division, across some very blurred lines. Kennedy’s grandfather was Robert Kennedy, who served as attorney general in his brother’s administration and then as US senator before he was assassinated during the 1968 presidential primaries. His great-uncles were President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and long-time Senator Ted Kennedy. He delivered the Democrats’ response to Trump’s 2018 State of the Union, and was endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

On the other side, however, was 74-year-old Ed Markey, who served 18 terms in the House of Representatives before taking over John Kerry’s Senate seat in 2013. Among Markey’s backers were the environmentalist Sunrise Movement and first-time Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), also known as AOC. Markey had co-sponsored AOC’s Green New Deal proposal in early 2019.

With less than nine weeks left before the November election, Biden’s advantage over Trump in the polls has all but evaporated, as his campaign struggles to respond to Trump’s condemnation of riots and arson in Kenosha, Portland and other Democrat-run cities across the US.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!