President Donald Trump said during the White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing that the administration did not know the status of North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un, and that while he wishes Kim well, he does not put a lot of faith in the report because it came from CNN.
Fox News anchor Bret Bairer asked Trump, “North Korea, what can you tell us about the status of Kim Jong Un?”
“Well, these are reports that came out, and we don’t know,” Trump responded. “We don’t know. I’ve had a very good relationship with him. I can only say this: I wish him well, because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, that’s a very serious condition.”
“But I wish him well. We’ve had a good relationship. I’ve said it,” Trump continued. “I’ve said it many times: If somebody else were in this position, we would have been right now at war with North Korea. And we are not at war. We are nowhere close to war with North Korea. I just have to say to Kim Jong Un, I wish him very good luck. Good luck. They came out with a very serious medical reports.”
Trump concluded by taking a shot at CNN, saying that no one has confirmed their reporting.
“It was CNN that came out [with the report], so when CNN comes out with a report I don’t place too much credence in it.”
WATCH:
President Donald Trump gives an update on the health of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, saying he's not sure about how legitimate the reports are because they originated from CNN. pic.twitter.com/KeeXK3MBiB
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) April 21, 2020
Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross noted that there are serious credibility issues surrounding the author of CNN’s report, former Obama official Jim Sciutto, who has a history of botching major reports.
Ross tweeted, “Sciutto has screwed up 3 major stories: He reported that the CIA extracted a Kremlin mole because of Trump, that Michael Cohen was going to tell Mueller that Don Jr. told his dad about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, and that the Steele dossier was corroborated.”
“The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge,” CNN reported on Monday night. “Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting.”
The news comes as North Korea has claimed that it has no coronavirus cases, a claim that is widely viewed as being a lie.
“Experts say North Korea’s reluctance to admit major outbreaks of disease, its wrecked medical infrastructure and its extreme sensitivity to any potential threat to Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule means that Pyongyang is likely handling the current coronavirus pandemic in the same manner,” TIME reported. “This has led to widespread skepticism over the nation’s claim to have zero infections.”
Choi Jung Hun, an alleged doctor, told TIME: “It’s a lie. Year after year, and in every season, diverse infectious diseases repeatedly occur but North Korea says there isn’t any outbreak.”
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