I like the theory. Not sure about its validity. Take Adam Schiff for example. Trump used Both little and shifty for him, but little seems tied to a on old non-profit he had (still has maybe) that teaches techniques to massage children iirc, in other words a front for a child trafficking and money laundering op. And shifty just sounds like a slur on the guy's name. If there's another politician where Trump used "shifty" maybe we could find something. But sometimes he used both on the same day, so it's unlikely Schiff was traded back and forth on one day. Doesn't mean that Trump doesn't use nicknames as a faction indicator, but so far I'm not convinced that that's the main use. He had 9a bunch of different nicknames for the lawfare team members and actors (horseface, peekaboo, etc.). By the way I see that Wikipedia has a list (it's out of date, but has more than I remember) of nicknames he assigns: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump.
Also: love the "pick your politi-champion" graphic. Quality!
I've wondered about the nicknames as well, and why he recycled the same names for different people. This explanation makes a lot of sense.
I like the theory. Not sure about its validity. Take Adam Schiff for example. Trump used Both little and shifty for him, but little seems tied to a on old non-profit he had (still has maybe) that teaches techniques to massage children iirc, in other words a front for a child trafficking and money laundering op. And shifty just sounds like a slur on the guy's name. If there's another politician where Trump used "shifty" maybe we could find something. But sometimes he used both on the same day, so it's unlikely Schiff was traded back and forth on one day. Doesn't mean that Trump doesn't use nicknames as a faction indicator, but so far I'm not convinced that that's the main use. He had 9a bunch of different nicknames for the lawfare team members and actors (horseface, peekaboo, etc.). By the way I see that Wikipedia has a list (it's out of date, but has more than I remember) of nicknames he assigns: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump.
Also: love the "pick your politi-champion" graphic. Quality!
Oops. Saw you linked to that list as well. Wanted to take it out, but can't find how to edit the comment.
Very interesting! Keep it up!