ORLANDO, Fla. — Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday that the Biden administration is to blame for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia’s military forces.
Mr. Pompeo, 58, is considered to be weighing a 2024 Republican presidential bid. And he attacked Democrats for weak foreign policy and the enforcement of a left-wing domestic agenda, sounding like a candidate seeking higher office.
“We’ve seen governors that don’t wear a mask but require three-year-olds to do so,” Mr. Pompeo said. “We’ve seen a man break swimming records in girls’ swimming races. We’ve seen a Russian dictator now terrorize Ukrainian people because America didn’t demonstrate the resolve that we did for the four years prior.”
Mr. Pompeo said during his years as the nation’s top diplomat under former President Donald Trump, the Trump administration employed the Reagan model of peace through strength to successfully deter aggression by other nations, including Russia.
“We put America first and we told people around the world, you cannot tread on us,” he said.
Mr. Pompeo said he worked during his years with the Trump administration to deter the threat of the Chinese Communist Party abroad and in the U.S., forcing the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston Texas where, he said, the Chinese were stealing secrets from energy companies and the University of Texas Medical System.
“We just said, ‘we’re not going to take it anymore’ and we shut it down,” Mr. Pompeo said. “Common sense applies to protecting each and every one of you.”
Mr. Pompeo served in the U.S. House from Kansas from 2011 until 2017, representing the 4th Congressional District. He spent more than a year serving as Mr. Trump’s CIA director before becoming secretary of state in April 2018, where he remained until Mr. Trump left office.
He told the CPAC crowd that he’s anxious to return to government.
“I miss every single minute of it,” Mr. Pompeo said. “I wish that we were back there leading America.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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