Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Trump: People ‘would be so bored’ if I acted presidenti­al

- By Jill Colvin

WASHINGTON » He urged his audience not to jeer North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while goading the crowd to boo the press.

He called an African-American congresswo­man a “very low-IQ individual” and bashed the moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” as a “sleeping son of a bitch.”

If it wasn’t crystal clear already, President Donald Trump’s roaring rally in Pennsylvan­ia on Saturday night underscore­d the fact that, more than a year into the job, Trump has no interest in leaving behind the vulgar insults or biting attacks on the free press that defined his 2016 Republican campaign.

“You’d be so bored,” Trump said as he brushed off criticism that he should change his ways.

“Don’t forget, this got us elected,” he told the crowd outside Pittsburgh. “If I came like a stiff, you guys wouldn’t be here tonight.”

Instead, Trump repeatedly lashed out at the “fake, fake media” and insulted reporters, prompting the crowd to break into a round of a favorite 2016 chant, “CNN sucks.”

But when it came to the North Korean leader, Trump was more restrained.

“No, it’s very positive,” Trump said after his mention of Kim’s name prompted boos and jeers. Trump, who last week agreed to a historic one-on-one meeting with Kim, motioned with his arms for the crowd to calm. “After the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice.”

Later, he held up China and Singapore as examples of countries that had successful­ly tackled their drug problems and suggested mandating the death penalty for drug dealers in the United States.

Trump critic Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said the president’s comments were setting a dangerous precedent.

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