Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared today on CNN, initially contracting the President Trump’s assessment of North Korea, then trying to lie about the president’s statements for cover.
Pompeo did not hesitate in responding to host Jake Tapper, agreeing that North Korea remains a nuclear threat.
Tapper then noted that the President doesn’t think North Korea remains a threat, presumably citing statements such as one the President Trump shared on Twitter in June of last year, where the president said, “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.”
“It’s not what he said,” Pompeo declared. “What he said was, the efforts that he made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim made, have substantially taken down the risk to the American people.”
“It’s the mission of the Secretary of State and the President of the United States to keep the people secure,” Pompeo added. “We’re aiming to achieve that.”
“I mean, that’s a direct quote,” Tapper retorted before moving onto other topics.
Later on the program, Pompeo returned to the issue of sanctions against North Korea.
“We’ve made it very plain to Chairman Kim, the alternative to giving up his nuclear weapons is remaining a pariah state, remaining a nation that is unable to trade, unable to grow, unable to take care of its own people,” said Pompeo. “We’ve made the argument that it would be far better, far better for Chairman Kim himself, his senior leadership, all of the for North Korea.”
Mike Pompeo became the Secretary of State in April of last year, replacing Rex Tillerson after he was dismissed by the President.
The President will be meeting with Chairman Jong-un in Vietnam next Wednesday in the second summit between the two leaders.
View the exchange below.
Image via screen capture from video source.