Joe Biden says we've never been closer to nuclear war with North Korea


When you find yourself up at night, worried about nuclear war between the United States and North Korea, know that former Vice President Joe Biden is just as concerned as you are.
In an interview with PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff on Thursday, Biden said he agreed with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, who said over the weekend he believes the U.S. is closer to nuclear war with North Korea than at any other time in history. Biden was critical of President Trump's handling of North Korea, especially his recent tweets about having a "much bigger" "nuclear button," and said he feared Trump's administration was making "fundamental miscalculations" in its foreign policy with the country.
Biden also suggested that Trump is unable to understand what he's dealing with — "this is not a business deal," he said, referring to Trump's past in real estate. "This is not who builds the next skyscraper." He wouldn't comment on whether he thinks Trump is fit for office, but did say Trump's approach to the presidency "erodes those invisible elements of citizenship that sort of are the buoyancy for what makes this nation so special. It's less his policies than the way he conducts [himself], how unpresidential he is."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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