'Sloppy Steve' Bannon becomes Trump's latest example of name-calling

Steve Bannon joins the ranks of "Little Marco" and "Liddle Bob."

ByABC News
January 5, 2018, 12:25 PM

— -- President Donald Trump named-called another apparent foe today.

Trump has now taken to calling his former chief strategist "Sloppy Steve Bannon" in the wake of a disputed book about the Trump administration.

"Sloppy" joins the ranks of other monikers Trump has bestowed on his foes in the past, including "Lyin' Ted” Cruz, "Little Marco" Rubio, "Liddle” Bob Corker, "Low Energy Jeb" Bush and "Crooked Hillary" Clinton.

Trump called Steve Bannon "sloppy" in two tweets this morning.

"I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!" Trump wrote in the first tweet.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon were present.
President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon were present.

In the second, he referenced a family of wealthy Republican donors -- the Mercers – who have pulled their financial support from Bannon, as ABC News reported Thursday.

"The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!" the other tweet read.

Trump issued a fiery statement slamming Bannon Wednesday after excerpts from the new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" were released quoting Bannon as suggesting that Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer during the campaign in Trump Tower was potentially “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”

PHOTO: Senior Advisor Jared Kusher, White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and President Donald Trump arrive at the start of a meeting with Senate and House legislators, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington.
Senior Advisor Jared Kusher, White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and President Donald Trump arrive at the start of a meeting with Senate and House legislators, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington.

When Bannon was fired, Trump said, "he not only lost his job, he lost his mind."

In his statement, Trump distanced himself from Bannon, saying he "has nothing to do with me or my presidency" and adding, "Steve had very little to do with our historic victory."

Bannon spoke out during a call-in segment of the “Breitbart News Tonight” radio show on Sirius XM hours after Trump’s statement was issued, sharing kind words about the president.

“The president of the United States is a great man,” Bannon said. “You know I support him day in and day out."

Trump attorneys this week sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon demanding that he stop making perceived disparaging comments about the president and his family.

PHOTO: White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington,  Jan. 31, 2017.
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Jan. 31, 2017.

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