Fox falsely claims there was “nothing taking on North Korea” in Obama's UN speech

Written by Christine Schwen

Published

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade and FoxNews.com blogger Eve Zibel both attacked President Obama for failing to mention North Korea in his September 23 speech at the United Nations. In fact, during his speech, Obama listed the “North Korean regime” as an example that "[t]yranny is still with us" -- as an article posted on FoxNews.com made clear.

Kilmeade, Zibel falsely claimed there was “no mention of North Korea” in Obama's speech

Kilmeade: “Nothing taking on North Korea” in Obama's speech to the UN. On the September 24 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Kilmeade attacked Obama's UN speech, asserting that there was “nothing taking on North Korea” in the speech.

FoxNews.com blogger Zibel: “No Mention of North Korea” in Obama's UN speech. In a September 23 FoxNews.com post headlined, “President Obama at the U.N.; No Mention of North Korea, Glancing Reference on Iran,” Zibel wrote of Obama's speech that “North Korea and that nation's nuclear program did not make the cut.”

In fact, Obama called “North Korean regime” an example of “tyranny” in speech as article on FoxNews.com noted

In his UN speech, Obama listed North Korean government as an example of "[t]yranny." Contrary to Kilmeade's and Zibel's assertions, Obama listed the “North Korean regime that enslaves its own people” as an example that "[t]yranny is still with us":

The idea is a simple one -- that freedom, justice and peace for the world must begin with freedom, justice, and peace in the lives of individual human beings. And for the United States, this is a matter of moral and pragmatic necessity. As Robert Kennedy said, “the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, groups, the state, exist for his benefit.” So we stand up for universal values because it's the right thing to do. But we also know from experience that those who defend these values for their people have been our closest friends and allies, while those who have denied those rights -- whether terrorist groups or tyrannical governments -- have chosen to be our adversaries.

Human rights have never gone unchallenged -- not in any of our nations, and not in our world. Tyranny is still with us -- whether it manifests itself in the Taliban killing girls who try to go to school, a North Korean regime that enslaves its own people, or an armed group in Congo-Kinshasa that use rape as a weapon of war.

FoxNews.com posted AP article noting Obama “spoke of tyranny by ... North Korea.” A September 23 Associated Press article posted on FoxNews.com noted that Obama “spoke of tyranny by the Taliban and in North Korea.”