On Monday, Donald Trump took time out of his meeting with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, to boast about his “great relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
“I understand him,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I spent a lot of free time with him, talking about things that we probably aren’t supposed to talk about. And, you know, I just, I get along with him really well.”
The president also called North Korea “a country of great potential” and said he hoped to meet with Kim later this year.
On Tuesday’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough reacted to Trump’s comments, saying: “It’s a country of great potential because North Korea is perhaps one of the most backwards countries on the planet because of that leader right there [Kim] and his father.”
Scarborough said conservatives — “real conservatives, the type of people that used to be in the Republican Party when I was back there” — previously didn’t share Trump’s admiration for the communist country and its leader.
Scarborough continued: “He’s the most brutal dictator — one of the most brutal dictators — on the planet, which leads to the question … what is it about Kim Jong Un that Donald Trump just can’t quit? What is it about Kim Jong Un that has the president of the United States bringing up the dictator, the world’s worst dictator, when he’s meeting with our long-term ally?” “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire agreed with Scarborough’s criticism and noted Trump’s “fascination with Kim Jong Un has lasted more than a decade,” adding the pair have sat down for three summits over the years with “no real progress made.” Lemire also theorized there could be a fresh motivation behind Trump’s latest effort to sit down with the communist leader: “As we know, President Trump is casting about to try to find a way to get a Nobel Peace Prize. It seems like perhaps this is the new venue.” You can watch Scarborough’s and Lemire’s full comments in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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