Sen. Chris Coons said Tuesday that he primarily opposed Mike Pompeo’s nomination for secretary of state due to President Trump’s foreign policy record, although he did say he questioned Mr. Pompeo’s values.
“I think my concerns were about his long record of associating himself with and speaking on issues and values in ways that really don’t reflect the best of American values. And frankly more of my problems were with President Trump and his conduct about foreign policy,” Mr. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said on MSNBC.
The senator said he was concerned about Mr. Pompeo’s commitment to the Iran agreement and his policy views regarding Syria. He added that another nominee may have received more support from Democrats than Mr. Pompeo, who was narrowly recommended to the full Senate by the Foreign Relations Committee.
“I’ll say there are other Republican leaders in foreign policy who could’ve been nominated who I think would’ve gotten 75 or 80 votes fairly easily,” he said, mentioning U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
Mr. Coons did have the opportunity to prevent a recommendation from moving forward on Monday night due to a procedural rule, but he accommodated his friend Sen. Johnny Isakson from Georgia who was absent due to a funeral.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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