Biden campaign blasts Trump for siding with a 'murderous dictator' over the former vice president

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

This one might backfire for President Trump.

Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign has responded forcefully to Trump, after the president insulted Biden during a press conference in Japan on Monday.

Trump, who has never been particularly friendly toward Biden (and vice versa), said that he agrees with Kim Jong Un's opinion that Biden is a "low IQ individual" — though the official translation of the North Korean leader's insult was "an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being." Trump worsened the blow against Biden when he called Kim "a smart man." The words, predictably, drew ire stateside, even rankling some feathers in the Republican party — some GOP members of Congress chastised the president for siding with a "murderous dictator" against a "fellow American."

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Upon Trump's return to the U.S., the Biden campaign let him know they were paying attention to the whole thing, as well.

It may seem odd that it took Biden's team a whole day to respond, but that delay may actually be the result of some careful strategy. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.