Administration must hold Kim responsible

President Donald J. Trump’s love for brutal dictators notwithstanding, North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un has the blood of American college student Otto Warmbier of Cincinnati on his hands. The administration must hold Kim responsible. Trump’s willingness to give the dictator a pass on the death of the 22-year-old University of Virginia student, who succumbed to injuries from months of torture in North Korea, should be the last straw — even for the Republican president’s most ardent supporters. Unfortunately, he has become the political Teflon Don for millions of Americans who voted for him in 2016 .... Fred and Cindy Warmbier did not mince words in reacting to the president’s statement about the North Korean strongman. “Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that.” In the midst of the widespread condemnation of his comment, Trump said Friday that he was being misinterpreted. “Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto’s mistreatment and death,” he said. Note that the president did not say he holds Kim responsible, and neither did he use the word torture to describe what the young American student experienced . ...

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