It may be a long time before Trump and Kim Jong Un see eye to eye on nuclear weapons, but the two leaders do have something notable in common.
Trump said at a press conference in Japan that he agrees with Kim that Biden is “probably” a “low IQ individual,” a sentiment that was later reiterated by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in a Sunday interview with NBC.
“I think they agree in their assessment of the former vice president Joe Biden,” Sanders said. “The president watched him and his administration with Obama fail for eight years.”
Rare point of agreement
Trump is in Japan for a four-day visit to meet the nation’s new emperor and discuss policy, especially matters concerning North Korea, with prime minister Shinzo Abe. At a Monday press conference with Abe, Trump made it clear that he agrees with Kim’s opinion of Biden’s mental capacity.
“Well, Kim Jong Un made a statement that Joe Biden is a low IQ individual. He probably is, based on his record. I think I agree with him on that,” Trump said.
President Trump tweeted approvingly of North Korea while in Japan on Saturday after the nation’s state media labeled Biden a “fool of low IQ” whose presidential ambitions are “enough to make a cat laugh.”
He added, “North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?”
Trump continued on the offensive Monday, blasting Biden without reservation.
“Joe Biden was a disaster, his administration with President Obama, they were basically a disaster when it came to so many things, whether it was economy, whether it was military … no matter what it was, they had a lot of problems,” Trump said, when asked about whether he was favoring Kim over Biden.
Trump criticized for attacking Biden overseas
Trump has mocked Biden since he entered the race last month, labeling the former vice president “Sleepy Joe” and “SleepyCreepy Joe.”
The president has been criticized for saying that he isn’t alarmed by North Korea’s recent series of short-range missile tests, tweeting Saturday that he has “confidence” that Kim will keep his promises to denuclearize and doubling down on Monday by saying that “It doesn’t matter” and “I’m not in a rush.”
The mainstream media has criticized Trump’s unconventional decision to zing domestic political foes while abroad, framing his criticism of Biden in Japan — and simultaneously friendly comments towards Kim — as un-American. The media has also depicted Trump’s apparent indifference to alleged North Korean threats as tin-eared given Japan’s own concern over Kim’s nuclear capabilities.
Unorthodox methods
Nothing about Trump’s approach to North Korean diplomacy has ever followed the “normal” track — and some credit Trump’s unconventional approach for a noticeable thawing of tensions on the peninsula. Trump calling Kim “very smart” follows a tendency on the president’s part to flatter and cajole the North Korean dictator into opening his isolated, militaristic country up to the rest of the world.
The technique has indeed yielded some success. Relations were extremely strained between the U.S. and North Korea when Obama left office, and they did not begin to ease until Trump’s second year in office, as evidenced by the historic June summit in Singapore. Speaking with NBC Sunday, Sanders blamed the Obama administration for making substantial mistakes in their dealings with North Korea, Iran, and China.
“We shouldn’t even be in this position that we’re in to have to deal with North Korea and at the level we are if they had done their job in the first place,” Sanders said.
“Again, the president’s focus in this process is the relationship he has, and making sure we continue on the path to denuclearization,” Sanders said. “And he feels good that the Chairman will stay firm with the commitment that he made to the president, and move towards denuclearization.”
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