Trump seems to have a pattern of skewering insults followed by half hearted compliments.

Here are some examples:

1. Carly Fiorina

Insult: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”

Compliment: “I think she’s got a beautiful face,” he interjected, quickly quieting the room. “I think she’s a beautiful woman.”

2. Jeb Bush

Insult: He is a very low energy kind of guy.

Compliment: “I think that Bush is a nice man,” Trump said in a portion of an interview aired Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

3. Ben Carson

Insult: "I don't think Ben has the energy."

Compliment: “Well, I like Ben a lot. He’s a good guy,”

But, maybe the compliments are worse than the insult. As Scott Adam’s explains that the “nice guy” compliment is a linguistic sniper shot:

“Nice guy” is a linguistic sniper shot. It is engineered to take out its target without revealing where the shot came from. It is not a casual choice of words. It is deeply engineered.

The anchor Trump dropped on Carson is that Carson is a “nice guy.” The press picked it up and can’t stop repeating it. Repetition is persuasion. Trump deputized the winged monkeys in the media to repeat “nice guy” until it will literally be the only thing you think of when you see Ben Carson’s face.

In America, a familiar saying is “Nice guys finish last.” If you are familiar with the saying, you probably automatically add those two words when you hear “nice guy.”

Remember, this is a long-distance linguistic kill shot. You aren’t supposed to know where the shot came from. The finish last portion of the thought is literally being created by you, in your head. And it rewires you with repetition.

History buffs will remember that Bill Clinton did a similar “nice guy” play on Bob Dole during their election cycle. Clinton made it clear that he liked Bob Dole. He even thanked Dole for his service to the country. Thanking Dole for his service makes you think of Dole in the past tense. It was a way to call him old and done. That was a linguistic sniper shot you did not see.