GOP rivals roast Trump for congratulating Kim Jong-Un's WHO inclusion

GOP presidential hopefuls jumped all over former President Donald Trump on Saturday when he congratulated North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un for the country's appointment to the World Health Organization's executive board.

Dr. Jong Min Pak, who leads the North Korean Ministry of Public Health, will now be part of making policy decisions and recommendations for WHO as a voting member of the U.N.-connected organization even though North Korea is in constant violation of the U.N. charter.

Trump's former vice president Mike Pence was the first to decry Trump's congratulations. "Whether it’s my former running mate or anyone else, no one should be praising the dictator in North Korea — or praising the leader of Russia, who has launched an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine," Pence, who will launch his 2024 presidential bid on Wednesday, said in an interview with Fox News on Saturday. "This is a time when we ought to make it clear to the world that we stand for freedom and we stand with those who stand for freedom."

"I was surprised to see that," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said. "I think Kim Jong Un is a murderous dictator. They just imprisoned for life a family, including an infant, which is just outrageous. The World Health Organization is a bankrupt organization, like Kim Jong Un's bad but then joining that. We need to be getting out of that and rejecting the WHO lockdown treaty, not congratulating [anyone] about being involved in the WHO."

And former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley agreed, saying, “You don’t congratulate a thug. I mean, let’s keep in mind, this thug has threatened America, has threatened our allies, over and over again."

“Kim Jong-Un, the tyrant dictator in North Korea should not be praised by Donald Trump for a leadership role in the World Health Organization,” former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson wrote on Twitter. “We sanction leaders who oppress their people. We do not elevate them on the world stage.”