Sleepy Joe is a nickname describing Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, coined and used by those who oppose his presidency, which became an internet meme. The nickname was originally coined in 2019 by Biden's predecessor and to-be successor, Donald Trump.

Biden in 2017

History

On April 25, 2019, United States president Donald Trump tweeted, "Welcome to the race, Sleepy Joe". Biden responded by calling Trump a "clown".[1] During the 2020 presidential election, including the final campaign debates, Trump generally mocked his opponent Biden repeatedly, calling him "Sleepy Joe".[2]

In June 2020, reports surfaced that Trump had recently asked advisors whether he should stick with his current nickname for Biden, "Sleepy Joe", or try to come up with another nickname, such as "Swampy Joe" or "Creepy Joe". It has been noted that Trump is not convinced that "Sleepy Joe" is particularly "dangerous", and some of his advisers agreed and urged him to stop using the nickname. In one tweet, Trump stated another nickname for Biden: "Corrupt Joe".[3]

Trump has criticized Biden, saying he "has been in politics for 40 years and done nothing", describing him as "politically weak" and claiming Trump has done more in 3.5 years for black people than Biden did in 43 years. Reinforcing his war against "radical-left democrats", Trump seized on popular calls to "protect the police" and falsely attributed them to "Sleepy Joe". He also claimed that Biden "doesn't know where he is or what he's doing", "he's asleep",[4] and that Biden held a rally that "hardly anyone showed up for".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Haltiwanger, John (2022-05-10). "Joe Biden has a new nickname for Trump after the president called him 'Sleepy Joe'". The Insider. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  2. ^ Manis, Emily (2022-03-25). "Study indicates that Donald Trump's 'Sleepy Joe' nickname for Biden was only effective among Trump's supporters". PsyPost. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  3. ^ Parker, Ashley; Costa, Robert; Dawsey, Josh (June 28, 2020). "Some Trump allies push for campaign shake-up to revive president's imperiled reelection bid". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Cervi, Laura; García, Fernando; Marín-Lladó, Carles (August 4, 2021). "Populism, Twitter, and COVID-19: Narrative, Fantasies, and Desires". Social Sciences. 10 (8): 294. doi:10.3390/socsci10080294.
  5. ^ Derki, Noureddine (March–April 2022). "A Critical Analysis of Persuasive Strategies Used in Political Discourse: A Case Study of Donald Trump and Joe Biden". International Journal of English Language, Education and Literature Studies. 1 (1): 44–54. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7776321.

Further reading