Joe Biden recently tweeted that in a year, “we” will give president Trump a nickname of his own: Former President Donald Trump.

The semantics of such a statement are that similar to the dialogue Trump himself has used, which is a look Biden probably does not want on him, considering how much he has denounced Trump and Trump’s words.

Nicknames can be a useful tool for some, while a damaging tool for others.

While Biden’s tweet is nothing extravagant, it tries to play off the same feeling Trump gave and still gives his followers.

All Biden is doing is trying to use trigger words to stir up his followers to get more hype built up for him.

Trump is so good at doing this, and it was very likely a huge factor as to why he got elected, if not the main factor.

Who remembers Trump’s nicknames for Hillary Clinton?

Take a stroll down memory lane, if you will, to the presidential debates in 2016.

Clinton did not engage in the same conduct of name calling Trump did, which, while it is more formal and respectable that way, may have lost her the election, quite literally.

Despite this, she was called a “nasty woman” by Trump.

If that was not enough, who remembers the other main name Trump used for his opponent, “Crooked Hillary”?

Now that it is starting to come back to you, try to think about all the press coverage those nicknames got alone and all the talking and debating they brought with their utterance.

The press is still fake news; more specifically, the accurate and respected press outlets are fake news because they print things about Trump he does not like.

And his followers believe it.

Yes, I cringe when I hear someone say fake news about a well-established news outlet because it is just hysteria and a mob mentality.

Now, Biden is trying to play the nickname game with his followers against Trump.

Trump could find himself a “former” president in a year’s time, but this nickname Biden used is rather tame.

Anyone with common sense would realize that people already call a former president “former” anyway, so this nickname does not add any real value, like “Crooked Hillary” did for Trump and his supporters.

If Biden really wants to win the nickname game, he will have to step his “game” up because Trump already showed his nicknames are more impactful.

But, maybe Biden will be able to stir up his supporters just as much as Trump did and does because all it seems to take these days is a loud voice and a memorable insult.

Dillan Schorfheide is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at dtschorfheide@eiu.edu