Abiding by the unwritten rule – for now – even disgraced former President Donald Trump has not criticized his newly-sworn in successor, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just made clear he has no intention of observing such norms, even in the interest of statesmanship.
Unlike most former Trump appointees, Pompeo has a strong government background, yet he has chosen to criticize President Joe Biden just two weeks after leaving office.
Telling the world, “America is back, diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” Biden delivered an internationally-acclaimed speech at the U.S. Department of State on Thursday, laying out his foreign policy vision.
Hours later, Pompeo hit the airwaves to attack it.
“I don’t think the American people can afford to go back to eight more years of Barack Obama’s foreign policy. I hope they’ll move forward with a foreign policy, much more like our America First foreign policy,” Pompeo told former GOP Congressman Trey Gowdy, now a Fox News try-out host, as The Hill reported.
Gowdy had time in his 9-minute interview to bring up Benghazi, but no time to ask Pompeo, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, about his highly-controversial “Madison Dinners” – massive, taxpayer-paid, secretive events at the State Dept. filled with more donors than diplomats. He also didn’t ask the former Secretary of State about firing the Inspector General who was investigating him and his alleged misuse of government staff and government funds. Nor about the allegedly improper arms sales Pompeo sidestepped Congress to approve. Gowdy did not even address reports that State Dept. personnel blocked a whistleblower’s charges against Pompeo from being investigated.
But critics on social media were more than happy to remind America about Pompeo’s time in office, and, as The New York Times reported last month, his “dubious legacy.”