If there’s one sure sign that an opponent has gotten under Donald Trump’s skin, it’s when he gives them a nickname. Now Michael Bloomberg knows how that feels.
At a rally Thursday, Trump attacked Bloomberg without naming him, saying, “I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy,” the Washington Post reports. “I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin, he wouldn’t know what the hell happened. And he came out of nowhere.”
Trump’s own tweet Friday morning clarified who the “little guy” was, saying, “‘Little’ Michael Bloomberg, who never had the guts to run for president, knows nothing about me. His last term as Mayor was a disaster!”
The battle of the billionaires began in earnest on Wednesday when Bloomberg, the former Republican mayor of New York City who then became an Independent, endorsed Hillary Clinton at the Democratic convention. “Donald Trump says he wants to run the country like he runs his business,” he said. “God help us. I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one… Let’s elect a sane, competent person with sane, international experience.”
Maybe Bloomberg should consult Trump’s erstwhile foe “Little Marco” Rubio on how to shed the nickname.
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Write to Tessa Berenson Rogers at tessa.Rogers@time.com