At a rally held in Michigan over the weekend, former President Donald Trump made fun of the spelling and pronunciation of Republican Representative Peter Meijer's last name.

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The former president spoke at a rally at the Michigan Star Sports Center in Washington Township near Detroit on Saturday, endorsing Republican candidates for congress, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. He has yet to back a Republican candidate for governor to run against Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

What Did Former President Trump Say?

In an attempt to bolster candidate John Gibbs who is running as a Republican candidate for Michigan's 3rd congressional district, Trump poked fun at his opponent Peter Meijer's last name.

"He's a brilliant guy, he was a great student. John Gibbs, who by the way, is running against one of the 10 impeachers, a guy who spells his name M-E-I-J-E-R but they pronounce it 'My-er,'" Trump said. "The hell kind of spelling is that?"

But the former president didn't stop there.

"I said 'How the hell do you pronounce this guy's name?' Nobody knows if he's done nothing in Washington," he said. "I said 'How do you pronounce his name, is it Ma-Ger, My-Ger?' They said 'It's Meyer,' I said 'How the hell do you get Meyer out of it?'"

The Meijer Name Has Deep Michigan Roots

Most people in Michigan are very familiar with the Meijer name. In 1934, Frederik Meijer and his father launched Meijer's North Side Grocery in Greenville, Michigan which paved the way for Frederik Meijer to introduce Meijer Thrify Acres in 1962. Meijer currently operates 259 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

Peter Meijer is the grandson of the late Frederik Meijer.

Reaction Was Swift

According to Newsweek, Twitter users quickly accused Trump of being out of touch with Michigan.

One journalist tweeted:  "It's pronounced MY-ER & the Meijer family is practically royalty in Western Mich. They created a grocery store empire & have beautiful botanical gardens, a state park, and hiking trails to their name. How utterly embarrassing for Trump and his idiot audience. So sorry @RepMeijer."

Todd Hagopian, who is a member of the Libertarian Party noted:   "Meijer is Michigan's 5th largest employer, and possibly the best grocery store in the Midwest. Which is probably why nobody laughed."

The full video is below, with the diatribe against Peter Meijer beginning at 52:30.

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