Breaking News Emails
With Joe Biden's entrance Thursday morning into the 2020 presidential race, the Democratic field of candidates is full to bursting — and so is the list of targets for President Donald Trump.
Here's what Trump has had to say so far about his would-be challengers.
Joe Biden
Within hours of Biden's announcement, Trump dubbed the 76-year-old former vice president “Sleepy Joe,” and called him someone whose "intelligence" had been "long in doubt."
Last month, Trump insulted Biden as “another low I.Q. individual” after the former Delaware senator accidentally admitted he was going to run for president, and then corrected himself.
Trump, in March 2018, had previously ripped Biden as “Crazy Joe,” tweeting that he was “trying to act like a tough guy” but was “weak, both mentally and physically.” The slap-back came after Biden, at a rally at the University of Miami attended by a sexual assault awareness advocacy group, said he would "beat the hell out of" Trump if they had been in high school together and if he heard him demeaning women.
Trump, in his tweet, said that, if they fought, Biden “would go down fast and hard, crying all the way.”
Trump has also previously dubbed Biden as “1 percent Joe” — a critical reference to his poor showing during his bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Bernie Sanders
Trump debuted his "Crazy Bernie" jibe against Sanders during the 2016 Democratic primary, as the independent Vermont senator racked up a series of primary wins against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump has since reprised the insult as the 2020 Democratic race has kicked into gear, tweeting his prediction earlier this month that the contest would come down to "Crazy Bernie Sanders vs. Sleepy Joe Biden."
Sanders has hit back by saying, "What's crazy is that we have a president who is a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and a fraud."
Elizabeth Warren
Trump has repeatedly used the slur "Pocahontas" against Warren, dating back the 2016 presidential race, when the Massachusetts senator emerged as a fierce critic of Trump. The insult references her past claims on Native American heritage, though she was never enrolled as a member of a tribe.
He also slammed her as “goofy Elizabeth Warren” during the 2016 campaign, but revived the slur after Warren announced her 2020 bid.
Beto O'Rourke
Trump took aim at O'Rourke in March, just days after his formal campaign launch, ragging on the former Texas congressman’s penchant for moving his hands and arms around when he talks.
"I think he's got a lot of hand movement. I've never seen so much hand movement,” Trump said during a White House event. “I said, 'Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts?'"
"I watched him a little while this morning, during I assume it was some kind of a news conference, and I’ve actually never seen anything quite like it,” Trump said.
Earlier, during an October campaign event for Sen. Ted Cruz (who was facing a tough challenge from O'Rourke), Trump called the candidate a "stone-cold phony named Robert Francis O'Rourke, sometimes referred to as 'Beto.'" O'Rourke's given name is "Robert Francis." Beto" is a nickname he has used since childhood.
Trump also slammed O'Rourke as "a flake" in a tweet he wrote after a debate between O'Rourke and Cruz.
Amy Klobuchar
Trump went relatively easy on the Minnesota senator, merely taking aim at how the snowy weather conditions affected her February campaign launch.
“By the end of her speech she looked like a Snowman(woman)!” he tweeted, mocking Klobuchar for “talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures”
Kirsten Gillibrand
Trump appears to have stayed away from Gillibrand since she announced her campaign earlier this year. But in 2017, he landed a harsh blow against her on Twitter that many said was sexually suggestive.
Trump, on Twitter, slammed Gillibrand as a "Lightweight Senator," a "total flunky for Chuck Schumer" and said she was “someone who would come to my office ‘begging’ for campaign contributions not so long ago.
Gillibrand, Trump added, “would do anything for them.”
The tweet came amid the backdrop of the burgeoning #MeToo movement and after Gillibrand called on Trump to resign due to the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against him, allegations the president has vehemently denied.
Cory Booker
Trump has largely handed Booker a pass since the New Jersey senator launched his campaign, but he had attacked him repeatedly prior to his 2020 bid.
In July 2016, following Booker’s speech at the Democratic National Convention — during which the senator took shots at the then-GOP-nominee — Trump tweeted a cryptic critical message that left pundits scratching their heads.
“I know more about Cory than he knows about himself,” Trump tweeted.
Then, last year, amid a bitter confirmation battle for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Trump again took aim at Cooker, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Take a look at Cory Booker," Trump said during an October White House press conference. "He ran Newark, New Jersey, into the ground. He was a horrible mayor; and he made statements that when he was in high school or college what he was doing. He actually made the statements. And now he's talking about Judge Kavanaugh."
His comments appeared to reference a 1992 article Booker for a student newspaper when he was an undergraduate at Stanford University in which he wrote about a time in high school he attempted to grope a girl.
Kamala Harris
Trump took a different approach with the California senator, paying her a modest compliment during an interview with The New York Times published in February.
When asked at that time who he felt was the Democratic Party’s “toughest candidate” in the race, he said it was Harris.
“I would say, the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,” he said, although the Times’ transcript of the interview noted that he mispronounced her name. “I would say, in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.”
“I just think she seemed to have a little better opening act than others,” Trump said.
And while Trump hasn’t so far insulted Harris directly, the White House has. In July 2018, the official White House Twitter account attacked Harris on illegal immigration, claiming she “supporting the animals of MS-13.”
Candidates Who Haven't Grabbed Trump's Attention
On the other hand, there are several Democratic candidates Trump hasn't appeared to comment on — yet.
They include South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
He also hasn't lobbed anything at entrepreneur Andrew Yang, author Marianne Williamson or Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam, who are all also running for president.