‘This Is No Longer Reality TV’: Democratic Senator Slams Trump Over North Korea Tweet
A day after President Donald Trump stated in a Reuters interview that there was a chance the United States may have a “major, major conflict” with North Korea, the North Korean regime tested a ballistic missile. Shortly after news broke of the missile test, the president took to his favorite form of communication to call out North Korea:
North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2017
Reacting to this tweet, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) somewhat applauded Trump for recognizing the need to bring China into the equation when it comes to stopping North Korea. At the same time, he criticized the president for utilizing Twitter to conduct diplomacy.
“What President Trump is doing here is recognizing that his only constructive path forward on North Korea is to engage China,” Coons told CNN’s Michael Smerconish this morning, “to make sure that China sees this as being as much their problem as our problem.”
However, the way Coons sees it, just because he’s complimenting the Chinese with his tweet and ripping North Korea, that doesn’t amount to foreign policy.
“Frankly, this is no longer reality TV,” Coons stated. “This is reality. And dangerous reality.”
He continued, “The way to conduct diplomacy is not through Twitter but through leadership by the National Security team at the Trump administration.”
Besides obviously referencing Trump’s past as the longtime host of The Apprentice, Coons may have also been calling back to a moment in the Reuters interview where Trump said he missed his previous life and thought being president would be easier.
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona
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