A spokesman for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign denounced “repugnant dictators” and their supporters on Friday, saying that they likely find the former U.S. Vice President “threatening,” according to a report in the Associated Press.

The comment, from one of the Democratic party’s leading campaigns in the race to take on President Donald Trump in next year’s election, came hours after a graphic, insult-laden attack on Biden was published in North Korean state media on Thursday.

Without referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by name, the campaign spokesman’s statement was likely an attempt to draw a contrast with