Dennis Rodman breaks down on CNN while discussing Trump-Kim summit

Moments after Donald Trump shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Dennis Rodman, the man whose own diplomatic overtures to the head of the rogue state preceded the president’s, took his own odd victory lap on live television.

“It’s amazing, when I said those things, when I said those damn things, when I went back home I got so many death threats,” a tearful Rodman told CNN’s Chris Cuomo while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. “I got so many death threats, I was sitting up protecting everything and when I came home I couldn’t even go home. And I believed in North Korea. And when I went home I couldn’t even go home. I couldn’t go home. I had to hide out for 30 days. I couldn’t even go home, but I kept my head up high, brother. I knew things were going to change. I knew it. I was the only one. I never had no one to hear me. I didn’t have no one to see me. But I took those bullets, I took all that. I took everything everyone came at me and I’m still standing. Today’s a great day for everybody — Singapore, Tokyo, China, everything. It’s a great day.”

Rodman spoke from Singapore, where he had traveled to play his part in the summit between the two nations. Having developed a personal relationship with Kim Jong Un on frequent travels to North Korea, Rodman is one of the few Americans who can boast of having met him ahead of Trump’s historic summit. As Cuomo himself said of Rodman Monday night, “He is our best resource right now for understanding the minds of the two men, especially Kim Jong Un.”

The flamboyant former basketball star also saw fit to pay tribute to those he said had not turned their back on his diplomatic efforts with Kim.

“I’m thanking Chuck Daly. I’m thanking Phil Jackson. I’m thanking Jeanie Bus,” Rodman told Cuomo, adding, “I’m thanking Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam [sic], everybody that’s supported me through all these things.”

Yahoo News contacted Dennis Rodman for comment, but did not hear back.

— Hunter Walker contributed reporting.

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