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Biden warns Trump on handling North Korea: Not about puffing your chest out bigger

Former US Vice President Joseph Biden (R) and incumbent US Vice President Mike Pence (L) share a moment during a mock swearing-in ceremony for US Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) at the Old Senate Chamber of the US Capitol January 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Former US Vice President Joe Biden has cautioned President Donald Trump over handling North Korea, reminding him that it is “not about can I puff my chest out bigger than yours.”

Biden made the comment in an NBC News interview Wednesday amid the commander in chief’s war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“This is not a game. This is not about can I puff my chest out bigger than yours. It’s just not — it’s not presidential,” said the 75-year-old Democrat (pictured below).

Trump has made a sharp retort to the North Korean leader’s recent threat that he had a nuclear button on his desk, saying his nuclear button "is a much bigger & more powerful one than his.”

Biden said he was “disappointed” in Trump’s reaction, noting that, “the only war that’s worse than one that’s intended is one that's unintended.”

The current vice president, meanwhile, came out in defense of his boss’s tweet, asserting that it means he “will not be bullied.”

"President Trump made it clear: America will not be bullied, America will not be threatened, and that the United States of America has — and by being clear, managed to marshal an unprecedented amount of economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea," said Mike Pence (pictured above) in an interview.

The former Indiana governor commended Trump's warning to Pyongyang, adding, that China was being pressured over the issue.

"I truly do believe that making it clear that all options are on the table that — as the president has done, making it clear the United States of America has the capacity to defend our people far beyond anything North Korea could imagine; but also making it clear that if North Korea will abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions, if they will dismantle those programs, there's an opportunity for a peaceable solution," he said.

The US president has already threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” if it does not scale back weapons tests.

During a New Year’s Day national address, the North Korean leader reminded Washington that “the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office.”


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