Biden responds to North Korea: ‘I wear their insults as a badge of honor’

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday responded to attacks on him by North Korea saying he will wear insults from the country “as a badge of honor.”

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA had described him earlier Friday as “a rabid dog” that needed to be put down. 

“It seems that murderous dictator Kim Jong Un doesn’t like me. Add him to the list of autocrats who don’t want me to be president — right next to Vladimir Putin,” Biden said in a statement released by his campaign. “I wear their insults as a badge of honor.”

He also knocked President Trump for his sometimes-warm relationship with Kim, saying “there will be no love letters in a Biden Administration.”

“When I am commander in chief, our adversaries will know that America doesn’t embrace dictators,” Biden said. “All Trump has accomplished is emboldening Kim and endangering our allies.”

“Kim would love to see Trump reelected, as would the rest of America’s adversaries. That’s just one more reason it’s so important we beat him next November,” he added. 

A KCNA commentary on Friday went after Biden over his age, saying that the “time has come for him to depart his life,” according to Reuters.

“It was the last-ditch efforts of the rabid dog expediting his death,” the commentary said. “Rabid dogs like Biden [sic] can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about. They must be beaten to death with a stick, before it is too late.”

The KCNA commentary reportedly did not reference any specific comments by Biden, who has previously criticized Trump’s actions toward North Korea. 

Biden’s campaign was among those that had criticized President Trump’s meeting this summer with Kim.