With his party reeling from a wave of electoral defeats on Tuesday, Donald Trump stood before the South Korean National Assembly on Wednesday to tout his alleged victories as president. After a desultory Wikipedia-style description of the achievements of the South Korean miracle, the nation’s remarkable economic recovery after the devastation of civil war, Trump said, “The United States is going through something of a miracle itself. Our stock market is at an all-time high. Unemployment is at a 17-year low. We are defeating ISIS. We are strengthening our judiciary, including a brilliant Supreme Court justice, and on and on and on.”

It’s unclear why South Koreans would care about the appointment of Neil Gorsuch, if they’re even aware of it, but Trump then took his diplomatic tactlessness a step further by plugging for one of his properties: “The women’s U.S. Open was held this year at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and it just happened to be won by a great Korean golfer, Sung Hyun Park, and eight of the top ten players were from Korea.”

Liberals were quick to criticize Trump’s vulgar salesmanship. “What a waste,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told MSNBC. “Maybe he should have stuck with the business he was in before.” Albright’s derision was widely echoed on the left and even among some on the right:

On the night of a Democrat wave in the United States, Trump lauds Korean golfers and Trump golf courses. — David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) November 8, 2017

As we all worry about @realDonaldTrump starting WW3 by saying something stupid to the South Korea National Assembly, he goes into a infomercial for Trump Golf Courses.

We are so f*cked. — Edan Clay (@EdanClay) November 8, 2017

South Korea thought they would be hearing from the President of the United States. Instead they heard an infomercial on QVC.https://t.co/K4XWKZ0OqN — Crooks and Liars (@crooksandliars) November 8, 2017

This response is understandable: Trump certainly presents a fat and easy target. But such attacks are also short-sighted.

Trump’s main focus in the speech was North Korea, about which he spoke with a newsworthy shift in tone and language. Avoiding the insulting and incendiary language of prior months—such as referring to dictator Kim Jong-un as “Little Rocket Man,” and threatening to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea—he lambasted the regime’s horrific human rights record in vivid, compassionate terms: