The war of words between the United States and North Korea continued on Wednesday, as the communist regime threatened an attack on the U.S. territory of Guam. And despite the fact that the North Koreans had successfully miniaturized a nuclear bomb to fit on a warhead, NBC Nightly News still thought it was a priority to slam President Trump for getting tough on the regime that had kidnapped American citizens.
“If the stakes weren't so potentially grave, it might otherwise sound like a school yard squabble,” quipped Anchor Lester Holt as he came on the air. “The war of words escalating tonight between the United States and North Korea over nothing less than nuclear weapons.”
Earlier in the day, Secretary of Defense James Mattis told North Korea to cease any actions that would endanger the U.S. or its allies or face “the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”
It was a statement similar to the Presidents, but Holt didn’t seem to have a problem with it. “And now today Secretary of Defense Mattis with his own more artfully worded but no less threatening message,” he seemed to approve. The only real difference was the man saying it, so it proves the bias against the Commander-In-Chief.
Holt handed the first report of the evening off to Correspondent Bill Neely, who was live in South Korea. He immediately started his report by highlighting the anti-Trump marches occurring in the North. “On the streets of North Korea today, a show of defiance,” he explained. “The U.S. the enemy, Kim Jong-un and nuclear weapons their defense, they said, against the threat from President Trump.”
Neely seemed skeptical of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he told the press that “the American people should sleep well at night.” He also seemed perturbed by Tillerson defending Trump’s “fire and fury” comments from the previous day.
In NBC’s third report on the unfolding situation with North Korea, they dedicated the entire segment to the backlash Trump had received for his threat. “As the President faces perhaps his greatest test of leadership yet, he's also spawned a backlash among some who feel his fiery threat to the North was out of bounds,” hyped Holt, as he led into the report by White House Correspondent Kristen Welker.
Welker touted the criticism of the President being flung by Republican Senator John McCain, who told her that “Teddy Roosevelt once said: 'Walk softly but carry a big stick.' And that's not what's being employed here.”
On Tuesday, NBC also glorified McCain’s criticism of Trump after he claimed he couldn’t think of another president who would have said what Trump said. But in reality, President Harry Truman said startlingly similar words before dropping the second nuclear bomb on Japan to end WWII.
The NBC vorrespondent only managed to squeeze in one supporter of Trump’s statement, and only granting it a few measly seconds. She quickly played a clip of Obama-lapdog Ben Rhodes who smeared the President by saying: “This is the kind of thing you would expect to hear from the North Koreans, not from the president of the United States. And frankly, it's not the kind of rhetoric that will reassure our allies.”
NBC’s reporting on North Korea here is viewed in a totally different light with the understanding that it’s their “job” “to scare people to death” with the fear of Trump and North Korea. As the network’s Brian Williams admitted to Tuesday night on MSNBC.
Transcript below:
NBC Nightly News
August 9, 2017
7:01:29 PM EasternLESTER HOLT: Good evening and welcome, everyone. If the stakes weren't so potentially grave, it might otherwise sound like a school yard squabble. The war of words escalating tonight between the United States and North Korea over nothing less than nuclear weapons. President Trump's “fire and fury” remarks met with North Korea's threat to attack a vital U.S. territory. And now today Secretary of Defense Mattis with his own more artfully worded but no less threatening message, warning North Korea against actions that could lead to, quote, “the destruction of its people.” Our Bill Neely is in South Korea tonight with the latest developments.
[Cuts to video]
BILL NEELY: On the streets of North Korea today, a show of defiance. The U.S. the enemy, Kim Jong-un and nuclear weapons their defense, they said, against the threat from President Trump.
DONALD TRUMP: Fire and fury, like the world, has never seen.
NEELY: And from the island of Guam, now directly threatened by North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson turning down the temperature.
REX TILLERSON: The American people should sleep well at night.
NEELY: And defending the President.
TILLERSON: What the President is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong-un would understand because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language.
NEELY: That message reinforced today in another stark warning from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that North Korea should stop considering “actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.” It would, he said, “lose any conflict it initiates.” Mattis' comments followed a new, very specific threat from North Korea, that it's preparing military plans to strike the American Pacific island of Guam.
…
7:08:26 PM Eastern
HOLT: As the President faces perhaps his greatest test of leadership yet, he's also spawned a backlash among some who feel his fiery threat to the North was out of bounds. But while his choice of words may have taken some within his administration by surprise, the White House says it's underlying message did not. Here is Kristen Welker.
…
KRISTEN WELKER: Those words were his according to the White House, who said the president didn't discuss specific language with his top advisors but had previewed the tone, including with chief of staff John Kelly. Still, the President's combative remarks sparked a backlash from some lawmakers.
JOHN MCCAIN: Teddy Roosevelt once said: “Walk softly but carry a big stick.” And that's not what's being employed here.
WELKER: Privately, administration officials acknowledge they've spent the day trying to turn down the heat. But the President may have added to the mixed messaging, tweeting: “My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before.”
…
WELKER: Tonight, some supporters say Mr. Trump's unconventional tough foreign policy talk shows strength.
REP. ADAM KINZINGER: This is how North Korea talks, so why not give it a shot to say: “Hey, we've got some fire and fury for you too if you want to play that game.”
WELKER: But critics warn:
BEN RHODES: This is the kind of thing you would expect to hear from the North Koreans, not from the president of the United States. And frankly, it's not the kind of rhetoric that will reassure our allies.
WELKER: The President's leadership facing its fiercest test yet in what’s shaping up to be one of the most dramatic standoffs since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Every president over the last 70 years has essentially felt that what matters in a crisis like this is not tough talk but tough action.
…
