Trump Threatens ‘Fire and Fury’ Against North Korea, and a Scared and Furious Internet Freaks, Mocks His Response
‘The Thing About Firm Warnings Is You Lose Credibility if You Don’t Follow Through’
President Donald Trump, finally responding to news North Korea can miniaturize a nuclear bomb to fit on a missile that could reach the United States, took exactly the wrong position. Instead of cooler heads prevailing, Trump threatened North Korea with a nuclear attack.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the U.S.” Trump told reporters in what appears to be unscripted remarks. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
On MSNBC, General Barry McCaffrey (ret.) called Trump’s remarks “babble,” said Trump sounds like a North Korean dictator, and noted, “if you threaten someone, you do it in private.” He also said it’s not a good signal to the U.S. armed forces.
Many retweeted this four-year old post from Donald Trump:
Be prepared, there is a small chance that our horrendous leadership could unknowingly lead us into World War III.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2013
The Wall Street Journal even blamed Trump’s remarks for breaking a DOW winning streak:
Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ comments put an end to the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s winning streakhttps://t.co/VypEucEr1T
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 8, 2017
The President’s remarks with met not with respect but with mockery – or revulsion – from many on social media. And while this is no time to treat the nuclear threat from North Korea as a joke, it’s this president who has no idea what he’s doing and has grossly miscalculated this moment.
Meanwhile, the “Game of Thrones” analogies were rampant (the series is based in part on a similarly-sounding novel, “A Song of Ice and Fire. Plus, dragons.)
A Song of Fire and Fury
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) August 8, 2017
Trump’s North Korea strategy. #FireAndFury pic.twitter.com/ZsfpWw9KAU
— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) August 8, 2017
Trump will unleash his 3 dragons on North Korea today. #fireandfury pic.twitter.com/TIysXdOjGi
— Jeff Gauvin (@JeffersonObama) August 8, 2017
TFW you think you’re Khaleesi but you’re actually a poor man’s Craster #fireandfury pic.twitter.com/VKkyDojrLJ
— Catherynne Valente (@catvalente) August 8, 2017
Others used Trump’s words to offer movie titles:
The Fire and the Fury
2 Fire 2 Fury
The Fire and the Fury: Pyongyang Drift
Fire & Furious
Fire Five
Fire & Fury 6
Furious 7
The Fate of the— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) August 8, 2017
Some made astute observations:
The thing about firm warnings is you lose credibility if you don’t follow through. What exactly is President Trump threatening here? https://t.co/zAzBb7zb12
— Mary Louise Kelly (@NPRKelly) August 8, 2017
The world has seen fire and fury. pic.twitter.com/VVsoRkKuFG
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 8, 2017
Sure, if USG wants to be the only country to use nukes…AGAIN. Radiation all over NE Asia. Also, bye-bye Seoul. https://t.co/5LaeEMr6b4
— John Schindler (@20committee) August 8, 2017
Wondering if the president knows that it’s already Aug. 9th in Japan-the 72nd anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki. #FireAndFury https://t.co/SDFK5bfPfO
— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) August 8, 2017
— Craig Peters (@LOHADdotcom) August 8, 2017
And others just used the opportunity to express frustration, and to try to find some comic relief:
#fireandfury pic.twitter.com/3gaVITS7me
— Scott Gould (@scott_gould) August 8, 2017
The fire and the fury are coming pic.twitter.com/UAczzBTkUM
— Madison (@madbev1991) August 8, 2017
A friendly reminder. pic.twitter.com/9Osq38PwAF
— Anthony M. Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) August 8, 2017
speaking for myself (and probably a lot of the world), we really, really don’t want to see that “fire and fury” – like ever
— Joe Sudbay (@JoeSudbay) August 8, 2017
Just read the “fire and fury” quote to my sister, who hadn’t heard it yet. She asked: who said it? North Korea or Trump?
— Joe Sudbay (@JoeSudbay) August 8, 2017
If I die in Nuclear war I’m going to be really pissed at the Bernie Bros.
— Fozzie (@Fozziebare) August 8, 2017
All this talk about NKorea… I’m not worried. I’ve trained for this moment… #FireandFury pic.twitter.com/pNkQOlqRTx
— Jason Seipp (@jasonseipp) August 8, 2017
It’s probably best if Trump doesn’t receive any further information on North Korea ever again.
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) August 8, 2017
32% approval rating. That’s only 2% away from starting a nuclear war with NKorea. #NorthKorea #distraction #fireandfury #Armageddon pic.twitter.com/rrCqsk5ORi
— Take Ivanka to Work (@IvankaToWorkDay) August 8, 2017
RELATED STORIES:
REPORT: North Korea Has Successfully Created a Nuclear Bomb Small Enough to to Fit Inside a Missile
As Trump Faces First International Crisis He’s Tweeting Out Attacks on ‘The Fake News’
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