President Trump has long given his adversaries original nicknames to mock and diminish them.
In 2016, he dubbed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” GOP primary rival Jeb Bush was known as “low-energy Jeb.” He labeled another Floridian, Sen. Marco Rubio, “Little Marco.” He has already given his potential 2020 Democratic rivals nicknames: “Crazy Bernie” Sanders, “Sleepy Joe” Biden, and “Pocahontas” Elizabeth Warren.
On Sunday morning, he extended the naming ritual to his former longtime fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen. This time, however, the nickname was not original and appeared to be borrowed from conservative Internet entrepreneur and highly influential news aggregator Matt Drudge.
Drudge has used the “rat” moniker on his eponymous website to refer to Cohen since at least July.
Several headlines on the Drudge Report, which first came to national prominence two decades ago during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, have labeled Cohen a “rat” since then, including “THE RAT,” “THE RAT IS A ‘TRIPLE THREAT,’” “MUELLER MEETS THE RAT,” and “RAT COMES CLEAN.” In recent weeks, Drudge has used the term with increasing frequency.
The Drudge Report is known to be one of the news websites Trump reads.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted,“Remember, Michael Cohen only became a ‘Rat’ after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started,” referring to the FBI’s raid of Cohen’s office and hotel room in April.
Cohen was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for bank and tax fraud crimes, including campaign finance violations related to Trump. In the months since the raid, Cohen has become intensely critical of his former boss.
THE RAT https://t.co/jtISQapvg3
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 25, 2018
THE RAT IS A ‘TRIPLE THREAT’… https://t.co/xesg7kOKIT
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 26, 2018
MUELLER MEETS THE RAT https://t.co/60dk7gMRBw
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) September 20, 2018
Drudge right now. Drudge turned on Cohen before Trump did. pic.twitter.com/EmdlmZNC1l
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) November 29, 2018
Trump himself used the moniker in January 2014 upon the release of Robert Gates’ memoir, in which the former secretary of defense was critical of Obama’s leadership.
“Whether you like Obama or not, Bob Gates turned out to be one disloyal dude! Personally, I hate rats,” Trump tweeted.
Whether you like Obama or not, Bob Gates turned out to be one disloyal dude! Personally, I hate rats.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2014
In a 2012 tweet, Trump referred to Andrew Young, a former aide to one-time Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, as a “rat” for testifying at Edwards’ campaign finance trial that he took secret payments from political donors to hide his boss’ pregnant mistress from the public.
He @johnedwards is bad, but @andrewyoung is worse–not only is he a “rat” but it turns out he stole much of the money for himself.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2012
The term “rat” has long been used by the Mafia to describe a law enforcement informant, implying that the “rat” is dirty and a lowlife.
Perhaps the most famous mob informant was Sammy “the Bull” Gravano whose testimony against his former associates was memorialized by the New York Daily News with the headline: “I’m a Rat.”
