Trump Heaps Praise on Kim: "We Understand Each Other"

During an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, Donald Trump waxed romantic about his new bestie, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. When Baier noted that Kim is "clearly executing people," Trump responded with just an extraordinary litany of praise.

BAIER: Kim Jong Un is "clearly executing people."

TRUMP: "He's a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, tough people, and you take it over from your father ... if you could do that at 27-years old, I mean, that's 1 in 10,000 that could do that." (via FOX) pic.twitter.com/R8FfkREDYX

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 13, 2018

Baier: He's clearly executing people!

Trump: He's a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, tough people, and you take it over from your father, I don't care who you are, what you are, how much of an advantage you have, if you can do that at 27 years old, I mean, that's 1 in 10,000 that could do that. So he's a very smart guy. He's a great negotiator. But I think we understand each other.

Like every day, there is a lot of important news today. This quote will not, for example, get as much attention as the Inspector General's report on James Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails — which is certainly important, but let me note that the lasting impact, if any, of the IG report may be entirely contingent on how much Donald Trump is inclined to behave like a dictator and is empowered by his indecent party to behave like one.

So here he is, responding to a reporter exclaiming with some alarm that the dictator he is praising is a vile executioner, not condemning that dictator and his wanton atrocities, but effusively praising him.

That this is who Donald Trump is, that this is what he believes, is the most important news item of the day — specifically because there are people who don't believe or understand that this is who he is and what he believes, specifically because there are people, in his party and in the press, who actively work to conceal that this is who he is and what he believes.

Anyone who has paid attention to Trump, who has scrutinized his words and actions instead of treating him a clown, has known from Day One that this is who Trump really is. But the populace were widely encouraged to not take him seriously, to treat him like entertainment, to view him as stupid and unstrategic and ineffective, and to this very day are being served mendacious narratives about his supposed foolishness, as though he seized control of the world's preeminent superpower by accident.

This is the news. This cannot and should not and must not be dismissed out of hand with another that's just Trump being Trump! This is the sitting president of the United States of America talking about how tough and smart a murderous dictator is. Saying, "We understand each other."

I can contemplate nothing that more pointedly exposes how truly unmoored we have become than the fact that Trump saying he understands Kim in reply to the invocation of his penchant for execution isn't the headline today.