After Sleepy Joe, Crazy Bernie, Pocahontas, Little Marco, Lying Ted and Low energy Jeb, there's a new nickname in President Trump’s arsenal, directed at South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

‘Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,’ Trump told Politico when asked if he sees Buttigieg as a serious threat to his 2020 re-election.

Alfred E. Neuman is the boyish cartoon character on the cover of the humor magazine Mad.

President Trump called South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (left) 'Alfred E. Neuman'. Neuman (right) is the mascot of the longrunning Mad magazine

Trump (seen above with First Lady Melania Trump at the White House on Friday) has mocked Buttigieg before

When Buttigieg was told of Trump’s remark, he responded by taking a dig at the president’s advanced age, saying: ‘I had to Google that ... I guess it’s a generational thing.’

Buttigieg, the openly gay Democrat, has received increased attention in recent weeks as his presidential campaign has surged from nowhere.

However, Trump apparently wants to belittle Buttigieg for his youthful appearance.

The South Bend mayor is just 37 years of age, while the president is nearly twice as old - 72.

And Buttigieg has a point. Alfred E. Neuman, who is also known as the 'idiot kid,' first appeared on a magazine cover in 1954.

Mad Magazine reached the peak of its popularity in the 1960s and 70s, when it became influential in satirizing U.S. pop culture while cementing its status as a commercial success with a cult audience.

The magazine, founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, debuted as a comic book in 1952, then switched to magazine format three years later.

Mad is still published on a bimonthly basis. Since 1952, it has put out more than 550 regular issues in addition to reprint ‘specials,’ original-material paperback books, reprint compilations, and other projects.

Buttigieg is the son of an immigrant from Malta, the small Mediterranean archipelago just south of Italy. A former Rhodes scholar who attended Oxford and Harvard, Buttigieg was a naval intelligence officer who served in Vietnam. In 2011, he was elected mayor of South Bend

Trump has mocked Buttigieg before. During a rally in Panama City, Florida, on Wednesday, the president scoffed at the notion that Buttigieg could hold his own in high-stakes international negotiations.

‘He's got a great chance, doesn't he? He'll be great,’ Trump said sarcastically of Buttigieg.

‘He'll be great representing us against President Xi of China. That'll be great.

‘I want to be in that room, I wanna watch that one.’

Trump then remarks about the pronunciation of Buttigieg’s name.

‘We have a young man, Buttigieg. Boot-edge-edge. They say “edge-edge”,’ Trump said.

Buttigieg is the son of an immigrant from Malta, the small Mediterranean archipelago just south of Italy.

A former Rhodes scholar who attended Oxford and Harvard, Buttigieg was a naval intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan.

In 2011, he was elected mayor of South Bend.

While Buttigieg's campaign has surged, former Vice President Joe Biden (above) has emerged as the clear frontrunner in the race for the Democratic nomination

It appears that Trump is getting ready to do battle with Biden. The president tweeted on Friday: ‘Looks to me like it’s going to be SleepyCreepy Joe over Crazy Bernie. Everyone else is fading fast!’

Buttigieg is one of more than 20 candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Public opinion polls shows, however, that Buttigieg and the other candidates have a long way to go to catch up to former Vice President Joe Biden, who has emerged as the clear frontrunner.

It appears that Trump is getting ready to do battle with Biden.

The president tweeted on Friday: ‘Looks to me like it’s going to be SleepyCreepy Joe over Crazy Bernie. Everyone else is fading fast!’

The ‘creepy’ dig is a reference to the several women who have accused Biden of touching them to the point where they felt uncomfortable.