Of Course Trump Didn't Coin The North Korea 'Rocket Man' Nickname First
President Donald Trump was not the first to call a North Korean leader by the nickname “Rocket Man.”
Trump used the term to describe the pariah state’s current dictator Kim Jong Un during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime,” said Trump. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
He also tweeted the moniker over the weekend:
I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2017
But British business news magazine The Economist actually used the same nickname to describe the nuclear weapon aspirations of Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, more than 11 years ago:
It's rocket man, JUNIOR, I believe pic.twitter.com/MCiy9UYVFJ
— Simon Cox (@s1moncox) September 20, 2017
The cover of The Economist’s July 8, 2006 edition showed Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011, blasting off into the sky above the caption, “Rocket man.”
Twitter users called out Trump for the duplication:
Apparently his vocabulary so limited #trump had to use plagiarize a name for #KimJongUn lol The Economist called his father #RocketMan ‼️ 😂😂
— Marilyn T (( 44)) (@MarilynT4) September 20, 2017
Trump was pretty pleased with his phrase at #UNGA today...
Kudos to @brianstelter for digging out this 2006 Economist, ft Kim's father... pic.twitter.com/Jl8tY6Iypv— Harriet Alexander (@h_alexander) September 20, 2017
This is an Economist cover from 2006. Does Trump think this was recently? #RocketMan pic.twitter.com/LtcZgRMv8F
— Todd A ☮️ (@heytodda) September 19, 2017
Related Coverage
14 Chilling Photos Of The Difference Between North Korea And South Korea
Trump Mentions 'Rocket Man' Kim Jong Un As White House Tries To Be Unified On North Korea
Trump Called Kim Jong Un ‘Rocket Man’ And Twitter Just Can’t
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
