‘He looks better than Biden’: CBS & Fox ripped for celebrating ‘thinner, more energetic’ North Korean leader
Fox News and CBS are facing heavy backlash after hailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “thinner” and “more energetic” appearance, with one pundit even saying he “looks better” than US President Joe Biden.
Multiple US media outlets shocked social media users with their coverage of Kim’s presence this week at a massive parade. Much of the media reaction to the event was focused on his appearance, namely that he appeared to have lost some weight.
According to a CBS News tweet, Kim “steals the spotlight” thanks to his “thinner” and “more energetic” appearance.
Thinner, more energetic Kim Jong Un steals the spotlight at North Korea parade https://t.co/BXeiWQWvfS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 10, 2021
“Did Kim Jong Un write this?” Fuller Project editor Lisa Tozzi tweeted in reaction to the headline, which earned plenty of other head scratches from Twitter users.
“Glad to see North Korean headline writers getting work in the US,” author and former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes added.
Ahhh an American media love affair with a murderous dictator — not on my 2021 bingo card. https://t.co/YXqsxLz93z
— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) September 10, 2021
Imagine reading a news site that praises Kim Jong Un lol https://t.co/hsapJ72Rnp
— Daniel Bostic (@debostic) September 10, 2021
"Steals the spotlight." LOL. It's the only spotlight in NK and Kim brought it. Also, how did U.S. corporate media wind up with propaganda footage from a closed off country, so quickly? Interesting.
— alamantra (@alamantra) September 10, 2021
Fox News also found themselves under an unflattering spotlight over a segment covering the North Korean parade, in which ‘Outnumbered’ co-host Rachel Campos Duffy not only said the North Korean leader “looks good,” but also “better than” US President Joe Biden, who is decades older than Kim.
“He does look good. I’m sorry, he looks better than our president” — Fox News’ Rachel Campos Duffy on Kim Jong Un pic.twitter.com/KhemkqPk5d
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 10, 2021
At another point, Campos Duffy also joked that “he’s fit, he’s fun, and he’s fascist!”
The typically right-leaning Fox News has been blasted as “un-American” over the moment, with many liberal critics slamming the network, though few acknowledged the other flattering headlines and coverage Kim has received from more left-wing outlets.
Campos Duffy even faced some backlash in her own segment, when comedian Jimmy Failla didn’t buy into her stance and argued, with no evidence to back it up, that the person who appeared at the parade was a body double.
“You do not, under any circumstances, gotta call Kim Jong Un hot,” one user wrote.
“Fox News is not only a propaganda network, but also UnAmerican,” another added.
Fox News praising Kim Jong Un for looking like a zaddy just goes to show that we messed up the simulation. https://t.co/qRjtH1fNid
— Jeffrey Fermin (@JeffFermin) September 10, 2021
This whole "you gotta hand it to him, Kim Jong Un is sexy" is a meme I did not expect. pic.twitter.com/CVtuBHRO4o
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) September 10, 2021
The Pyongyang parade was put together to celebrate North Korea’s 73rd anniversary and included everything from health workers –in hazmat suits– to military dogs. Kim reportedly did not speak at the event, though he interacted energetically with senior officials and was seen kissing children who presented him with flowers before he took his place to watch the parade.
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