WASHINGTON − Republican presidential candidates and other Republican leaders put aside their reluctance to criticize Donald Trump this weekend after the former president took on an unusual political topic: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Trump’s praise of Kim for a new position at the World Health Organization drew attacks from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and other Republicans who said the former president’s foreign policy is reckless.
“I was surprised to see that,” DeSantis told reporters in Iowa, where several GOP candidates were stumped over the weekend.
DeSantis condemned Kim as a “murderous dictator” and called the World Health Organization “failed.” He and other Republicans have long attacked the organization over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to get out of this” instead of “congratulating” dictators for joining, the Florida governor said.
DeSantis no longer on Trump attacks in 2024 race: ‘I’m going to fight’
Mike Pence will announce the presidential campaign with the June 7 rally in Des Moines
Pence, who plans to officially enter the 2024 race this week, also took the opportunity to criticize the front-runner.
“Whether it’s my former running mate or anybody else, nobody should be praising the dictator in North Korea,” Pence said in Iowa. Pence also criticized Trump for his past praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump, who has made one-on-one meetings with Kim a centerpiece of his foreign policy, sparked a political furor with a publication from Truth Social on the news that North Korea has been elected to the executive board of the World Health Organization.
“Congratulations to Kim Jung Un!” Trump proclaimed.
Republican candidates have been reluctant to criticize Trump, given his large base of GOP support.
But Haley, who was also Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News that “you don’t congratulate a bully.”
“I mean, let’s face it,” Haley said. “This bully has threatened America. He has threatened our allies time and time again. This is not something to play around with.”
Republicans who have long criticized Trump also condemned his praise of the North Korean dictator.
Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Tex., who has talked about mounting a long-shot presidential bid, did so in terms of “rights and wrongs.”
“America is good and Kim Jong Un is bad,” Hurd tweeted. “It goes against everything we stand for and what we believe in praising the Devil.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a frequent Trump critic who had to defeat a Trump-backed challenger in a primary last year, also criticized Trump’s Truth Social post. Kemp he tweeted: “Bringing our country back to Joe Biden doesn’t start with congratulating North Korea’s murderous dictator.”
