North Korea has labeled Joe Biden a “fool of low IQ” and an “imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being” after the U.S. presidential hopeful called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a tyrant during a recent speech.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday said the former American vice president had insulted the country’s supreme leadership and committed an “intolerable and serious politically-motivated provocation” against the North.

Biden during a campaign launch in Philadelphia on Saturday accused President Donald Trump of cozying up to “dictators and tyrants” like Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“What he uttered is just sophism of an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being, let alone a politician,” KCNA said.

The piece, labeled a commentary, said Biden had “gone reckless and senseless, seized by ambition for power.” It went on to mention apparent Biden gaffes, such as once appearing to fall asleep during a speech by President Barack Obama.

“It is by no means accidental that here is nonstop comment over his bid for candidacy that he is not worth pinning hope on, backed by the jeer that he is a fool of low IQ,” KCNA said.

It mocked Biden’s belief that he was “the most popular presidential candidate.” ″This is enough to make a cat laugh,” the report said.

A spokesman for Biden’s campaign, Andrew Bates, responded later Wednesday: “Given Vice President Biden’s record of standing up for American values and interests, it’s no surprise that North Korea would prefer that Donald Trump remain in the White House.”

North Korea has often unleashed crude insults against U.S. and South Korean politicians to criticize what it sees as slanderous remarks toward its leadership or hostile diplomatic and military policies against Pyongyang. The insults have included racist and sexist diatribes, including when the North called Obama “a monkey” and former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the country’s first female leader, a prostitute.

During tensions created by a provocative run in missile tests in 2017, Kim called Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” after he said that the United States would “totally destroy North Korea” if forced to defend itself or its allies.

The North’s description of Trump dramatically improved after Kim initiated diplomacy with Washington and Seoul in 2018 while attempting to leverage his nuclear arsenal for economic and security benefits. The nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang stalled in February when a summit between Kim and Trump collapsed over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.

(AP)