New York Attorney General Letitia James announced yesterday the State of New York is suing former Republican President Donald Trump, his company the Trump Organization and his children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka.
So naturally, he has to give her a nickname.
Trump has a long history of doing this with his opponents—from "Little Marco" Rubio to "Lyin' Ted" Cruz and of course, "Crooked Hillary" Clinton and "Sleepy Joe" Biden.
But Trump's nickname for New York AG James—"Peekaboo"—aroused quite a bit of suspicion, because the nickname makes no sense.
Unless it's a coded form of a racist epithet.
Trump unveiled the nickname in a post on his social media platform Truth Social yesterday, and it immediately raised eyebrows.
See the post below.
\u201cWhen you type a nasty racist slur that starts with J and autocorrect changes it to "Peekaboo"\u201d— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@Mrs. Betty Bowers) 1663791381
Trump's post reads:
"Attorney General Letitia 'Peekaboo' James, a total crime fighting disaster in New York, is spending all of her time fighting for very powerful and well represented banks and insurance companies, who were fully paid, made a lot of money, and never had a complaint about me, instead of fighting murder and violent crime, which is killing New York State."
Quite the mouthful there.
But it's the use of "Peekaboo" that has really stuck with people, because it seems like a totally randomly chosen word until you consider the theory several people on the internet came up with.
It's the result of autocorrect not recognizing racial slurs or it's a deliberate code word for the anti-Black racial slur "j*gaboo."
Beginning in the days of the colonial slave trade, the word has a long history as a mocking term for Black people and is believed to be a portmanteau of "jig," like the dance, and "bugaboo," an old word for a ghost or spirit.
You get the picture.
Lending credence to the theory is the fact Trump also branded James a "racist." He has a long-standing habit of projection—accusing others of doing what he himself is doing.
On Twitter, people definitely found his choice of nickname interesting to say the least.
\u201c@BettyBowers ...oh, no.\n\nI think I know what you mean.\nhttps://t.co/KdGNt1wbPo\u201d— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@Mrs. Betty Bowers) 1663791381
\u201cIs there a backstory to Trump using \u201cPeekaboo\u201d? Or is it just a random synapse misfire from a douchey racist?\u201d— ResponsibleDispatchHat (@ResponsibleDispatchHat) 1663804672
\u201cCan anyone who speaks deranged white supremacist explain to me why Trump is calling AG Letitia James "peekaboo?"\u201d— John Iadarola (@John Iadarola) 1663790944
\u201cStop saying stuff like \u201cracist undertones.\u201d Trump calling Letitia James \u201cPeekaboo\u201d is racist. Like how Trump calling Liz Warren \u201cPocahontas\u201d was racist. He\u2019s just racist.\u201d— The Volatile Mermaid (@The Volatile Mermaid) 1663851349
\u201cWhen Trump calls Leticia James \u201cPeekaboo\u201d is this what he really means? \ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffd\u201d— Julie B(rooklyn) Multi Racial Resister\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83d\ude37 (@Julie B(rooklyn) Multi Racial Resister\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83d\ude37) 1663819867
\u201c@RonFilipkowski I don't know, but I bet Trump didn't actually didn't dictate the word "peekaboo" for this post. Knowing Trump, he used a different word and the person transcribing refused to write it.\u201d— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1663780683
\u201cSo, the orange clown calls Laticia James \u201cPeekaboo.\u201d There you go for those of you who proudly parade around with your \u201cBlacks for tRump\u201d Tee shirts. What\u2019s next? The N word?\u201d— \u203c\ufe0f\ud83d\udcaf#WithAgeComesWisdom! (@\u203c\ufe0f\ud83d\udcaf#WithAgeComesWisdom!) 1663781200
\u201cDoes anyone know why Donald Trump referred to New York Active General as \u201cPeekaboo\u201d? I have a speculative theory, but it is too terrible to state without more evidence.\u201d— Grand Masker Kushibo, MPH (@Grand Masker Kushibo, MPH) 1663856699
\u201c\u201cPeekaboo\u201d\n\nTrump\u2019s dog whistle must be broken, because I\u2019m not a dog, but I heard that loud and clear.\u201d— Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling (@Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling) 1663852645
The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages for widespread fraud going back years involving misleading financial statements made by the Trump Organization.
Trump dismissed the suit as a "witch hunt."
Ash Stanton/Facebook
Laura Sprinkle/Facebook
Akira Karasu/Facebook
Cevanna Gilbert/Facebook
Troy Adam/Facebook
@GovPressOffice/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social