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What is a 'Zippo'? Trump's use of word against 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl SPARKS Internet 'hippo' fracas

The Donald Trump-Lesley Stahl interview came into limelight after POTUS cut short the pre-taped conversation and stormed off

What is a zippo? President Donald Trump has left everyone online wondering what that word means. Bizarre, isn't it? On Monday, October 26, 2020, the 74-year-old ripped CBS interviewer Lesley Stahl after 60 Minutes aired their interview – and surprisingly, the program scored its best ratings of the year. If that wasn't enough, Trump brought up the interview at his campaign rally in Allentown asking, "Did anybody see 60 Minutes last night? ... Which was a total joke of a show." 

In no time, he then attacked her by branding her a "zippo." Continuing to criticize her, he said, "And It was just question, question, kill – all always going for the kill. She’s a zippo but always going for the kill." The Stahl interview came into limelight after Trump cut short the pre-taped conversation. At first, Trump agreed to a sit-down with Stahl, who has done televised interviews with Trump since his election in 2016. After Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence was in line for an interview with Stahl, and two recordings were to be released on Sunday along with same-format interviews of Democratic nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris taken by another reporter.

With 17 million viewers, Stahl and Norah O’Donnell sat down with Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence as POTUS staged his stormy walk-off. During the interview, Stahl asked Trump if he was ready for "tough questions" and then introduced a few challenging topics. In the clip, Trump could be seen visibly irritated with Stahl’s line of questioning which included the country’s coronavirus response, healthcare and racial strife. After about 45 minutes of filming, Trump said, "Well, I think we have enough. I think we have enough of an interview here. OK? That’s enough. Let’s go. Let’s go," and stormed out.

Later, he took to Twitter, saying, “I am pleased to inform you that, for the sake of accuracy in reporting, I am considering posting my interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, PRIOR TO AIRTIME! This will be done so that everybody can get a glimpse of what a FAKE and BIASED interview is all about…” Not just that, he also released a maskless video of her after the interview. 

Here's the clip that went viral after Donald Trump's rally where he labeled Stahl as a "zippo."

It's no surprise that many viewers couldn't stop wondering what a zippo actually is after it went viral. "Yeah I think I was out of it or something. What the hell is a zippo besides and liter? What a strange asshole trump truly is," one viewer said and another wrote, "What’s a zippo? Isn’t that a cigarette lighter or something?" A third chimed in, "I’ve been asking this all over Twitter. What the hell is a Zippo? I don’t speak crazy syphilitic." Explaining what it actually is, one user posted, "Zip, zero, nothing... trump, of course, is projecting. (Zippo is actually a brand of lighter. Probably uses it to fire up his hydrosonic toothbrush.)"

So, what exactly is a zippo? As per Urban Dictionary, it is "an expensive, refillable lighter. Usually decorated with designs. They last for a long time, and can be left flaming without holding it like a Bic." Collins Dictionary calls it a slang that means "nothing; zero." And as per The Free Dictionary, it translates to "a quantity of no importance." Basically, Trump was trying to equate Stahl to a person who has little or no importance.

Many on Twitter also cracked hippo jokes after the fiasco. "What's the difference between a hippo and a Zippo? One is really heavy, the other's a little lighter," one tweet read and another posted, "For context this was the joke What is the difference between a hippo & a zippo? One is a heavy & the other is a little lighter." Many thought he might have tried to utter the word "hippo" instead. "Who the hell knows with him. A zippo, of course, is a lighter. He could have been going for hippo, or Zeppo," one tweet read.

Interestingly, the Deadline reported that the interview became one of the most-watched shows since the Oscars, Sunday Night Football behind. The report read: "The last time the long-running newsmagazine did so well was when Stormy Daniels shared intimate details of her tryst with Trump on March 25, 2018. In fact, with the exception of sports and cross-network events, more people watched last night’s 60 Minutes than any show on any network since the Academy Awards on February 9. For those keeping score, that hostless affair celebrating cinema’s biggest night had an audience of 23.6 million, an all-time low."