- President Donald Trump said he was defending former Vice President Joe Biden when he described him as a "low IQ individual" in a tweet over the weekend.
- "I was actually sticking up for Sleepy Joe Biden while on foreign soil," Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon. "Kim Jong Un called him a 'low IQ idiot,' and many other things, whereas I related the quote of Chairman Kim as a much softer 'low IQ individual.' Who could possibly be upset with that?"
- Trump's comments follow a previous tweet, in which he downplayed North Korea's latest missile tests and referenced the regime's description of Biden from a North Korean propaganda column.
- North Korea's state media, which occasionally rails against US politicians, described Biden as having a "low IQ" after the former vice president characterized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "tyrant."
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was defending former Vice President Joe Biden when he described him as a "low IQ individual" in a weekend tweet sent during his trip to Japan.
Trump's Tuesday comments follow a previous tweet on Saturday, in which he downplayed North Korea's latest missile tests and referenced the regime's description of Biden from a propaganda column.
North Korea's state media, which occasionally rails against US politicians, described Biden as having a "low IQ" after the former vice president and current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate characterized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "tyrant."
"I was actually sticking up for Sleepy Joe Biden while on foreign soil," Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon. "Kim Jong Un called him a 'low IQ idiot,' and many other things, whereas I related the quote of Chairman Kim as a much softer 'low IQ individual.' Who could possibly be upset with that?"
Trump and Biden's feud has escalated in recent weeks. Trump mocks Biden in his tweets and during campaign speeches, often referring to him as "Sleepy" or "Crazy" Joe Biden. Biden, the Democratic frontrunner in the 2020 US presidential election, signaled he was hesitant to get into a "mud wrestling match" with the president.
"On every single issue and on every demeaning thing he says about other people, I have no problem responding directly," Biden said during a private fundraiser, according to Politico. "What I'm not going to do is get into what he wants me to do."
"There's so many nicknames I'm inclined to give this guy," Biden added at the time. "You can just start with clown."
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The White House signaled it was willing to side with North Korea on the description of Biden.
"I think they agree in their assessment of former Vice President Joe Biden," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Sunday.
"The president doesn't need somebody else to give him an assessment of Joe Biden," Sanders added during an interview with NBC News. "He's given his own assessment a number of times. I think you've seen it. I'm sure you've covered it on your program. The president watched him and his administration with President Obama fail for eight years."
It was previously reported that Trump may be wary of running against Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Trump was worried about Biden's appeal to working class white voters and the potential for Pennsylvania, Biden's home state, to flip in Biden's favor, sources told Axios.
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