President Donald Trump’s North Korea claims caused an uproar on social media during the 2019 State of the Union Address.
The president was met with groans from many members of Congress after he claimed during his speech that the United States would be at war with North Korea had he not been elected for office in 2016.
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“If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” he said as some of the members of congress laughed while other expressed their clear frustrations with the statement.
‘If I was not the U.S. president, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,’ Trump says in his #SOTU address. Follow our #SOTU coverage: //t.co/SXgqhA3vOv pic.twitter.com/mlqB9NqD7I
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 6, 2019
The statement also received backlash on social media, with many members of the press sharing their take on Trump’s incendiary statement.
“This is ridiculous: Trump claims that if he had not been elected we’d be in a major war with North Korea. Zero evidence. Trump was the one who terrified the Pentagon leadership with his talk of attacking North Korea,” New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff said on Twitter.
The shocking statement led to the president’s announcement that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27 and 28 in a summit in Vietnam. The meeting comes less than a year after the two political leaders held a historic meeting in Singapore closely watched for signals that the Asian country was open to diplomacy.
Since the meeting, President Trump claims the country is no longer a nuclear threat, though independent analysis have questioned that assessment, according to USA Today.
“We continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped and there has not been a missile launch in more than 15 months. If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” Trump said during the address.
“Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one. Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam,” he added.
Twitter users also commented on the statement, poking fun at the president for his self-aggrandizing claims.
iF i WaSn’T PrEsIdEnT rIgHt NoW We WoUlD bE aT wAr WiTh NoRtH kOrEa #SOTU pic.twitter.com/fGeCrKhOFh
— mariana (@scenerysugg) February 6, 2019
“Laughs in the gallery as Trump claims that had he not been made president, we would be at war with North Korea,” one user wrote.
“It bears repeating that Trump just claimed on national TV that had Clinton been elected North Korea would have nuked us,” another user noted.
