Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shocked reporters at a State Department press briefing Tuesday when he declared that President Trump would serve a second term in office.
Pompeo made the bold statement after a reporter asked if the State Department was “currently preparing to engage with Biden transition team, and if not, at what point does a delay hamper a smooth transition?”
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said with a smile. It was not immediately clear whether Pompeo was trolling, or just made the comment without thinking, but lefties immediately went apoplectic on Twitter, calling his remark “corrupt,” “fascism in the flesh,” “reckless and dangerous,” and “monumentally stupid,” among other things.
Fascism in the flesh. But trump is leaving office by Jan 20. Pompeo will be packing his bags with him. Mark your calendar. https://t.co/WgjYGcBzoX
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) November 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1326238009541369856?s=20
Pompeo long ago forfeited the right for anyone to think of him as anything other than a partisan hack but wow
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) November 10, 2020
Asked if @StateDept is going to be engaging with the Biden transition team, Pompeo responds: “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
This is incredibly reckless, dangerous, and damaging to US security. https://t.co/0zdxUbcIOj
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) November 10, 2020
Monumentally stupid and destructive words from Pompeo. Joe Biden won the election and will be the next president of the United States. The whole world knows it. Don’t ever forget Pompeo did this. https://t.co/WGSuGkjir6
— Mark Follman (@markfollman) November 10, 2020
‼️One week after the election that Trump LOST, @SecPompeo refuses to accept the will of the American people: “There will be a smooth transition to a 2nd Trump administration.”
This is NOT democracy. It’s FASCISM.🤬#TrumpLost #TrumpConcede #BidenWonDaypic.twitter.com/gdUXA80f9C
— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) November 10, 2020
The Sec. of State told reporters that the State Department would follow a Constitutional process to ensure a successful transition.
“We’re ready. We’re going to count all the votes. When the process is complete, there’ll be electors selected—there’s a process, the Constitution lays it out pretty clearly,” he said. “The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today—successful today—and successful with the president who is in office on January 20 a minute after noon, will also be successful.”
Later on, a reporter challenged Pompeo on the State Department’s stance since the Department “frequently sends out statements encouraging free and fair elections abroad and for losers in those elections to respect the results.”
“Doesn’t President Trump’s refusal to concede discredit those efforts?” she asked.
Pompeo said the question was “ridiculous.”
“And you know it’s ridiculous and you asked it because it’s ridiculous,” he scolded.
“This Department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe, and secure, and free, and my officers risk their lives to make sure that that happens,” Pompeo said indignantly. “They work diligently on that. They also encounter situations where it’s not clear about a particular election. We work to discover facts, we work to do discovery to learn whether, in fact, the outcome of the decision made reflected the will of the people.”
Pompeo stressed that everyone should want a fair election process that counts every legal vote.
“You want the law to be imposed in a way that reflects the reality of what took place. That’s what I think we are engaged in here in the United States, and that’s what we work on everyplace,” he said before leaving the podium.