Donald Trump tried to explain one of his nicknames for Democratic rival Kamala Harris to New York magazines Olivia Nuzzi.

But it did not go well.

Nuzzi recalled in a lengthy article published on Monday how the former president boasted to her about his disparaging Kamabla moniker for the vice president during an early August interview at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump first deployed the slur around that time.

The Republican presidential nominee gave me an expectant look, but I was confused, wrote Nuzzi.

Trump repeated the insult and described it, per Nuzzi, as just a mixed-up pile of words. Like she is. He then stopped what he was saying and stared at me with a look of grave concern and disappointment, Nuzzi added.

Nuzzi would have to see it to really understand, Trump reportedly told her.

Nuzzi in her article said it was maybe a nickname meant for cyberbullying, not for conversation.

There are those that think its good Trump reportedly insisted to the journalist.

Nuzzi asked Trump if he was behind the insult. He laughed a deflated kind of laugh, as if to minimize the importance of the answer, she wrote. Trump admitted he had and comes up with a lot of things.

But, as Nuzzi noted, the name was soon retired.

Read Nuzzis full article in New York magazine.