Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at an NPR reporter on Saturday and accused her of lying to him after reports emerged of a heated exchange between the two.
“NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month, in setting up our interview and, then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record,” Pompeo said in a statement released by the State Department.
“It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency,” he continued, calling the incident “another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration.”
“It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity,” he added.
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In recounting the incident, Kelly said she had confirmed with Kelly’s staff the night before the interview that she would be asking about Ukraine. She also told Shapiro that when she was called back to Pompeo after the interview for the private tongue-lashing, she told his office she would be relaying on air what had happened.
In his statement on Saturday, Pompeo did not deny using the language mentioned by Kelly. His statement ended by stating, “It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine,” though it was unclear exactly what the comment was in reference to.
In Kelly’s account, Pompeo aides brought an unmarked map at his request and she pointed out where Ukraine was on it.
Pompeo has come under scrutiny after Democrats accused him of failing to protect former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch from a smear campaign led by Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney. He has also been implicated in Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, which is at the heart of the Senate’s impeachment trial.
The secretary of State maintained during the interview with Kelly, after he was asked about Yovanovitch, that he had “agreed to come on your show today to talk about Iran.” Kelly responded by saying that she had “confirmed with your staff … that I would talk about Iran and Ukraine.”
Pompeo insisted in the interview that the administration’s Ukraine policy is run exclusively through his department and that he has put the interests of all State Department employees first.
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- Discussion
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#BREAKING: Pompeo attacks NPR reporter, accuses her of lying about heated exchange https://t.co/8aapCoHlCX pic.twitter.com/NwNx2pNnb0
— The Hill (@thehill) January 25, 2020
Pathetically whiney from SecState Pompeo.
If America’s top diplomat can’t handle normal questions from a reporter, he definitely can’t handle America’s diplomacy.
Thinking of all the great Americans who held this job—can’t imagine any being this weak, dishonest, petty. https://t.co/AhxxUNrf5d— Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) January 25, 2020
Let's put it a different way. Pompeo got pantsed by a reporter, and now he's lying about it. Because he is pandering to a base that really has no idea where anything is, and cannot believe anyone is smarter than they are. https://t.co/VvABLxbLpM
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 25, 2020
One of the crazy things about the Pompeo statement is that he confirmed he demanded that a national security reporter take a geography test after he didn’t like several well-researched and valid questions from her during an interview.
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 25, 2020
I thought it was the responsibility of the Secretary of State to explain to Americans why they should care about Ukraine, not to berate a journalist asking legitimate questions about his lack of support for foreign service officers acting professionally. https://t.co/4uwSJHxx3b
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) January 25, 2020
We can't underestimate how the fact that the president's core base (not the broad GOP public) absolutely loves Trump's name-calling and bullying has infected and influenced his administration and the larger GOP ecosystem. This is done now not just for the audience of one. https://t.co/0HIoAI0ncW
— David French (@DavidAFrench) January 25, 2020
That Pompeo felt the need to compound his boorish behavior with an insulting lie tells you a lot about what has happened to him in last couple years.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) January 25, 2020
This is a great point. Pompeo was so enraged that he manufactured a dumb lie – that Kelly was off by thousands of miles – instead of saying she was off by an inch (which at least doesn't sound crazy).
Ukraine is the largest country entirely in Europe. It's hard to miss. https://t.co/7O9aeUTREA— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 25, 2020
Not that @NPRKelly needs a character reference, but this one is pretty strong. Too bad @SecPompeo will never see someone like this defend his character, but life is about choices. https://t.co/V1CQ9d6xoW
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 25, 2020
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) January 26, 2020
When you take a mediocre congressman with anger issues and make him Secretary of State: https://t.co/uVf32jwDsX
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 26, 2020
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