Vice President Mike Pence indicated Monday that the U.S. would be willing to talk with North Korea. But, those talks will only happen if the regime takes action to denuclearize.
"So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify," Pence explained to The Washington Post. "But if you want to talk, we'll talk."
Despite this way too kind offering, a "senior diplomatic source" has taken issue with Pence's behavior toward North Korea at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. How dare the vice president give the delegation the cold shoulder, while meeting with defectors and others who have suffered at the hands of the regime.
So, CNN has given that "source" a full page story.
The senior diplomatic source said Pence "degraded the image of the United States as a superpower" by meeting with North Korean defectors along with Otto Warmbier's father, and by speaking strongly against North Korea on multiple occasions.
The source added that it was "a missed opportunity" on the part of the vice president to make headway with North Korea. It was "undignified behavior."
The story wasn't limited to online viewers. CNN anchor John Berman and an analyst quoted "the source" live on air about how Pence "took the low road."
Social media skewered the network for amplifying the "propaganda."
This whole story bashing Mike Pence for rebuking North Korean tyranny is sourced to a single "diplomatic source close to North Korea." Embarrassing. https://t.co/Ed0eiHyufD
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) February 12, 2018
Amazing, but I think my favorite part is the reference to ‘North Korea media’ without any explanation that no such institution exists. Also, why is anonymity granted here?
— Andrew DeLaney (@andyndelaney) February 12, 2018
Instead of expressing outrage over Pence's meeting with brave defectors and a pair of grieving parents who have lost their son to North Korean brutality, why don't the media target the source of the grief?
We can expect more of the same from CNN throughout the Games, considering the outlet has also offered glowing profiles of Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong.
CNN isn't the only media outlet that appears to have been duped by North Korea. Before the Games kicked off, NBC's Lester Holt was mocked for his naïveté during a trip to a North Korean "ski resort" that was not what it seemed.
Perhaps the best tweet to have been composed in the Olympic-sized furor.
If you want to celebrate a North Korean who was a spectator at a major event, here he is... pic.twitter.com/7LWxHoeN2S
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) February 11, 2018