Two Terrible Men Escalate Their War of Terrible Words

[Content Note: Disablism.]

Choe Sang-Hun at the New York Times: Kim's Rejoinder to Trump's Rocket Man: 'Mentally Deranged U.S. Dotard'.

Responding directly for the first time to [Donald] Trump's threat at the United Nations to destroy nuclear-armed North Korea, its leader called Mr. Trump a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard" on Friday and vowed the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history."

The rejoinder by the leader, Kim Jong-un, who is about half as old as Mr. Trump, 71, added to the lexicon of Mr. Kim's choice of insults in the escalating bombast between the two.

"A frightened dog barks louder," Mr. Kim said in a statement, referring to Mr. Trump's speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in which he vowed to annihilate North Korea if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies against it.

"He is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician," Mr. Kim said.

It's really neat (it is terrible) how these two dudes lob really specific insults at each other without a trace of fucking self-awareness. Or any detectable sense of irony.

Meanwhile...

David Nakamura and Anne Gearan at the Washington Post: Amid New Sanctions, Trump Calls North Korea's Leader 'Madman' Whose Regime Will Face New Tests.

Trump lashed back Friday at North Korea's leader, calling Kim Jong Un a "madman" whose regime will be "tested like never before" amid new U. S-imposed financial sanctions.

...Kim on Thursday reacted angrily to Trump's remarks and actions this week, calling the president a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard" and Trump's earlier speech at the U.N. "unprecedented rude nonsense." Kim said that he was now thinking hard about how to respond.

..."I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue. Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation," Kim said, saying that he would "tame" Trump "with fire."

On Friday, Trump added the latest barb with a tweet calling Kim a "madman" who brings famine and death on North Koreans.

"Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!" Trump wrote.

So everything is fine, as usual. (Everything is not fine.)

If only someone had mentioned before Election Day that Trump is an erratic, reckless, provocative bully with a poisonous temperament who is catastrophically unfit to be president. OH WELL.