In a remarkable display of group think on Thursday, all three network morning shows touted North Korea hurling personal insults against President Trump as an act of “defiance” and promoted forced demonstrations in Pyongyang as a “display of unity” from the oppressed people in the authoritarian regime.
On NBC’s Today, correspondent Miguel Alamaguer parroted the propaganda from the communist dictatorship: “The North Korean regime responding to President Trump’s chilling warning....Calling the President ‘senile,’ saying he ‘was cooped up at the golf course and was clueless about how things are developing.’ Adding, ‘Sound dialogue is not possible with someone as bereft of reason’ as President Trump and ‘only absolute force can work on him.’”
In a separate report, while explaining how fearful South Koreans were of Trump’s “fiery rhetoric,” correspondent Bill Neely declared: “From North Korea, the latest show of defiance, chanting ritual hatred of America and loyalty to Kim Jong-un and the nuclear weapons he says protects them from Donald Trump’s fiery threat.”
On ABC’s Good Morning America, correspondent Martha Raddatz proclaimed: “A defiant rebuke by North Korea in a statement calling President Trump’s recent comments ‘a load of nonsense,’ saying the President is ‘a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.’”
Moments later, the reporter highlighted a highly-orchestrated government march in the brutal nation’s capital: “And in Pyongyang on Wednesday, a rallying call. Thousands of North Korean citizens packing the square in that nation’s capital in a display of unity.”
Leading off CBS This Morning, co-host Charlie Rose announced: “The North Korean general in charge also mocked President Trump’s angry vow to respond to new threats.” Fill-in co-host Margaret Brennan followed: “The general called the President’s ‘fire and fury’ warning a ‘load of nonsense.’ He went on to say ‘only absolute force can work’ on someone as, quote, ‘bereft of reason’ as President Trump.”
Introducing another report, Brennan maintained: “North Korea is showing further defiance to the United States. Thousands of people hit the streets yesterday to protest the stiffer economic sanctions that the U.N. approved last weekend.” Correspondent Ben Tracy described the bizarre scene:
Tens of thousands of people packed the main square of Pyongyang for a mass rally orchestrated by the North Korean regime. The speaker said the U.S. said the U.S. “will face a miserable and wretched fate,” while marchers carried signs that read, “Let’s become bullets and bombs defending Kim Jong-un.” This man said, “I will become the nuclear warhead of ICBM to smash down the U.S. mainland, the nest of evils.”
After noting how North Korea threatened to turn the South Korean capital into a “sea of fire,” Tracy amazingly seemed to think military leaders in Seoul were overreacting to the crisis: “Today South Korea’s defense chiefs vowed strong retaliation if North Korea continues to provoke, an unusual warning against mere threats rather than an actual attack.”
The promotion of North Korean propaganda across all three networks was brought to viewers by StateFarm, Walmart, and Tide.
Here are excerpts of August 10 coverage on the NBC, ABC, and CBS morning shows:
Today
7:01 AM ET(...)
MIGUEL ALMAGUER: Savannah, good morning. North Korea’s military is upping the ante, making new threats against the United States, saying they hope to be able to attack this region by mid-August if their military leaders accept it.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: War of Words Escalates; North Korean Officials Calls Trump “Senile” Amid Threats]
This morning the small island of Guam is said to be a target. This American territory facing an elevated threat as the war of words between the United States and North Korea reaches a fever pitch. The North Korean regime responding to President Trump’s chilling warning.
DONALD TRUMP: They will be met with fire and fury.ALMAGUER: Calling the President “senile,” saying he “was cooped up at the golf course and was clueless about how things are developing.” Adding, “Sound dialogue is not possible with someone as bereft of reason” as President Trump and “only absolute force can work on him.”
(...)
7:07 AM ET
BILL NEELY: From North Korea, the latest show of defiance, chanting ritual hatred of America and loyalty to Kim Jong-un and the nuclear weapons he says protects them from Donald Trump’s fiery threat. A threat his military calls “a load of nonsense,” warning that only “absolute force” can work on him.
(...)
Good Morning America
7:02 AM ET
PAULA FARIS: But first let’s get right to those new developments on North Korea. We want you to take a live look at Guam where it is nighttime right now.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, that is the U.S. territory in the Pacific home to thousands of Americans that North Korea threatened to launch missiles toward last night. Of course that was their response to the President Trump’s “fire and fury” warning. They’re also calling it a “load of nonsense.”
(...)
MARTHA RADDATZ: This is truly a war of words between Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, but it could have very real consequences. A U.S. territory is facing a very specific threat from North Korea in response to Donald Trump’s strong words.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: North Korea Issues New Threat; Says “Only Absolute Force” Can Work on Trump]
A defiant rebuke by North Korea in a statement calling President Trump’s recent comments “a load of nonsense,” saying the President is “a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.”
(...)
RADDATZ: And in Pyongyang on Wednesday, a rallying call. Thousands of North Korean citizens packing the square in that nation’s capital in a display of unity.
(...)
CBS This Morning
7:03 AM ET(...)
CHARLIE ROSE: The North Korean general in charge also mocked President Trump’s angry vow to respond to new threats.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The general called the President’s “fire and fury” warning a “load of nonsense.” He went on to say “only absolute force can work” on someone as, quote, “bereft of reason” as President Trump.
(...)
7:09 AM ET
BRENNAN: North Korea is showing further defiance to the United States. Thousands of people hit the streets yesterday to protest the stiffer economic sanctions that the U.N. approved last weekend. Ben Tracy is watching it all from Beijing. Ben, good morning.
BEN TRACY: Good morning. So North Korea is now using President Trump’s “fire and fury” comments as well as those new U.N. sanctions to rally its own people. And that was on full display Wednesday in North Korea’s capitol.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: North Korea’s Defiance; Regime Downplays President’s Comments as Tensions Rise]
Tens of thousands of people packed the main square of Pyongyang for a mass rally orchestrated by the North Korean regime. The speaker said the U.S. said the U.S. “will face a miserable ans wretched fate,” while marchers carried signs that read, “Let’s become bullets and bombs defending Kim Jong-un.” This man said, “I will become the nuclear warhead of ICBM to smash down the U.S. mainland, the nest of evils.”
North Korea has now launched more than a dozen missiles just this year and continues to threaten to turn the capital of South Korea into a “sea of fire.” Today South Korea’s defense chiefs vowed strong retaliation if North Korea continues to provoke, an unusual warning against mere threats rather than an actual attack.
(...)
