Did Bernie Sanders Give Donald Trump A Taste Of His Own Medicine With A New Nickname?

Donald Trump has become known for crowning his opponents with brutal, simplistic nicknames, much in the way of a middle school playground bully. Trump’s method of sticking his primary opponents with nicknames and then relentlessly hammering them in was one of the reasons why Trump emerged at the head of the pack during the race for his party’s nomination. Defining his opponents and casting them in the most negative light possible has become a trademark, and one that he returns to time and again, as it has thus far proved to be a successful move. Low Energy Jeb. Little Marco Rubio. Lyin’ Ted. And now, as the Republican nomination is officially his, Trump has turned his penchant for nicknames to the other side.

Crooked Hillary. Goofy Elizabeth Warren. Crazy Bernie.

But it seems as though “Crazy Bernie” may be giving Donald Trump a taste of his own medicine by bestowing a rather cutting nickname on the candidate.

Mr. Macho.

Like Trump’s own nicknames for his opponents, it’s short and certainly not sweet, and, knowing Donald Trump’s penchant for vigorously defending his manhood — there was, after all, that time during a nationally televised debate that he felt compelled to assure his voters about the adequate size of a body part that had recently been slandered — “Mr. Macho” will cut to the quick.

Bernie Sanders, who is currently still locked in a primary battle with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, remains in California as he fights for the last votes. Trump had briefly floated and agreed to the idea of a debate with Sanders, who, of course, jumped on the chance to highlight the differences between his platform and ideas and that of the Republican nominee. But as quickly as Donald Trump embraced the idea of debating Bernie Sanders, he backed away.

“Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and (Debbie) Wasserman-Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher,” Trump said in a statement, formally withdrawing from even the idea of a debate before the California primaries.

Sanders’ condemnation was swift.

“Let me not worry about Hillary Clinton right now. Let me worry about Donald Trump — this big, brave, macho guy, my goodness,” Sanders told supporters during a rally in California on Monday. “He said he wanted to debate Bernie Sanders, then he said he didn’t, and then he said he did, and then he said he didn’t.”

It was then that Sanders labeled Donald Trump with the same broad, but effective, brush that Trump attempts to label others.

“So I say to Mr. Macho that I am open to a debate anytime, any place here in the state of California, hopefully before the June 7 primary.”

Sanders is behind in the Democratic delegate count, and his chances at clenching the Democratic nomination are nearly impossible — although he has won in ways that are far-reaching and will likely have a lasting impact on the Democratic party, which can be read about here.

So, his attempt to get Donald Trump on stage in order to debate him may be his only chance to do so, as it is unlikely he will get the chance to confront the real estate mogul and former entertainer during the general election battle. Clinton has a lead of 269 pledged delegates over Sanders. That number grows to 494 when superdelegates are included.

Sanders dismisses talk about the superdelegates, though, and continues to push forward.

“[Clinton] has received, obviously, a whole lot of superdelegate support, no question about that, a lot more than I have. But superdelegates don’t vote until they’re on the floor of the Democratic convention, that’s when they vote,” Sanders said.

Sanders considers Trump to be a far more pressing danger, though, and points to his better poll numbers in a supposed match-up against the Republican nominee.

“So our job, between — you know, starting yesterday; our job is to convince superdelegates of one very, very important fact: That their most important responsibility is to make sure that the Democratic Party has the strongest candidate possible to defeat Donald Trump and make sure that man does not become president of the United States of America, which to my view would be a disaster,” Sanders said.

[Photo of Bernie Sanders by Darren Hauck/Getty Images News; Photo of Donald Trump by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic/Getty Images]