Denying Kim Jong un knew of Otto Warmbier’s torture is an awful look for the President

President Trump is known for making irresponsible statements. He’s often irrational and reactionary, but even when he’s measured in his responses on certain topics, he makes poor choices. One of the poorest choices he’s made since becoming President happened this week when he appeared to absolve North Korean leader Kim Jong un in the torture and eventual death of Otto Warmbier.

“I know the Warmbier family very well,” he said. “I think they’re an incredible family. What happened is horrible. I really believe something very bad happened to him, and I don’t think that the top leadership knew about it.”

They knew about it. Kim Jong un knew about it.

“I don’t think that the top leadership knew about it,” Trump said. “I don’t believe that he (Kim) would have allowed that to happen.”

Kim Jong un has had his own family members murdered. Either the President is gullible or lying.

The Warmbier family, who attended last year’s State of the Union as special guests, were appalled by the President’s response:

We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. 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. Thank you.

They are right, and not just about their son. The North Korean regime is one of the most oppressive in the world when it comes to its own people, let alone those from other nations. For the President to say anything nice about one of the most heinous dictators in the world would be laughable if it weren’t so sad.

“He tells me that he didn’t know about it and I will take him at his word,” Trump said during a news conference, also claiming Kim “felt very badly. But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later.”

It’s a common practice in business negotiations to say nice things about someone in public in hopes that it will translate to an easier deal made behind closed doors. This isn’t business. This is world politics, and so far the President’s efforts to negotiate on the world stage have been amateur hour. We don’t need someone who paid someone else to write The Art of the Deal. We need a statesman.

This is going to stick to him through the 2020 election, brought up time and time again in the general election.

President Reagan didn’t heap praise on the USSR before negotiating with them. He called them an evil empire all the way through to their demise. President Trump should abandon his real estate negotiations playbook and be more like Reagan in handling foreign affairs.