Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Kazakhstan promoting America’s commitment to human rights, but his recent behavior toward an NPR reporter sabotaged the trip when a journalist called out his hypocrisy surrounding press freedom.
Last month, Pompeo lashed out at National Public Radio reporter Mary Louise Kelly for asking him questions about Ukraine, which is at the center of President Donald Trump’s extortion scandal. He criticized Kelly for daring to ask him about Ukraine and arrogantly challenged her to point out the country on a blank map, which she easily did because she has a Master’s degree in European Studies and has been a longtime national security reporter.
After being schooled, Pompeo fumed over his tantrum and subsequent humiliation being reported on by NPR and retaliated by attacking the news outlet and barring Kelly from his official trips, including to Kazakhstan.
And so, Kazakh journalist Aigerim Toleukhan interviewed Pompeo about the purpose of his trip on Sunday.
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“As a journalist, I’m sure you know the good work the State Department does to train journalists in press freedoms – all of those things that build out civil society inside of countries are things we’re deeply committed to,” Pompeo claimed. “We’re here, we’re here to help, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Toleukhan recognized the hypocrisy of Pompeo’s remark and challenged him.
“Before you departed to this trip you had a confrontational interview with a National Public Radio reporter, and after that trip your department removed another NPR reporter from the press pool,” Toleukhan noted. “Did you retaliate against NPR? What kind of message does it send to countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, whose governments routinely suppress press freedom?”
It’s certainly a fantastic question that nailed Pompeo. After all, how can he possibly lecture authoritarian governments on press freedom when the Trump administration routinely works against press freedom here at home?
Of course, Pompeo denied the confrontation and accused NPR of lying.
“Yeah, I didn’t have a confrontational interview with an NPR reporter any more than I have confrontational interviews all the time,” he replied. “In America that’s the greatness of our nation: Reporters like yourself get to ask me any question and all questions. We take hundreds and hundreds of questions. We talk openly. We express our view; they ask their questions. That’s how we proceed in America. And with respect to who travels with me, I always bring a big press contingent, but we ask for certain sets of behaviors, and that’s simply telling the truth and being honest. And when they’ll do that, they get to participate, and if they don’t, it’s just not appropriate – frankly, it’s not fair to the rest of the journalists who are participating alongside of them.”
At this point, it should be noted that even a Fox News host criticized Pompeo for berating Kelly and called for him to apologize. Pompeo also didn’t initially deny the confrontation.
When pressed by Toleukhan, Pompeo echoed Trump’s Ukraine phone call defense by claiming that his message about press freedom is “perfect.”
“It sends a message – it’s a perfect message,” he said. “It’s a perfect message about press freedoms. They’re free to ask questions. There were – there’s a reporter from that very business who was at a press conference just yesterday. It’s wide open in America. I love it. I hope the rest of the world will follow our press freedoms and the great things we do in the United States.”
This is an embarrassing moment for the State Department and the United States as a whole, and all because Pompeo couldn’t handle being schooled by a reporter who was only doing her job. His inappropriate behavior toward journalists and retaliation against them makes him a very poor choice to represent our nation overseas, especially when it comes to human rights and the free press.
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