One Democratic presidential candidate is rising to the defense of a rival against a scurrilous attack by Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump reinforced an attack against former vice president Joe Biden as “low IQ” while Trump was traveling overseas.

“Well, Kim Jong-un made a statement that Joe Biden is a low-IQ individual. He probably is, based on his record. I think I agree with him on that,” Trump said.

Trump and the autocratic Kim developed a rapport over the course of two international meetings on the denuclearization of North Korea which have yielded no concrete results.

According to most public opinion polls, Biden is leading a crowded field of about two dozen Democrats running for president.

Out on the campaign trail, Biden found himself defended by rival candidate Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind.

“My thoughts on that are that Kim Jong-un is a murderous dictator and Vice President Biden served this honorably,” Buttigieg said. “It’s just one more example, though, of the way this president tries to draw attention to himself by saying things that shock the conscience to distract us from his deep unpopularity and the deep unpopularity of the Republican governing agenda.”