NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recounted his experience working in former President Donald Trump’s “wildly unique” administration and implored conservatives not to be “gaslit” by liberals during a conference address that could double as a stump speech should he launch a 2024 White House campaign.
“Don’t be gaslit, tell the truth, speak the truth, be fearless,” he said Friday, delivering a keynote address at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Nashville.
TRUMP COMPARES JAN. 6 COMMITTEE TO RUSSIA INVESTIGATION AT FAITH CONFERENCE
He added of “the decay inside our nation”: “I believe that we will restore the greatest of America, not because of any great American leader, not because of any great rule of law, but because of you.”
Pompeo, who has been visiting early nominating states while insisting he is focused on the 2022 midterm elections, referenced liberal contentions that “America is a racist nation” and “there’s more than two genders.”
The former CIA director was welcomed with a rowdy applause at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center when he was introduced earlier in the evening along with the rest of the Patriots’ Gala head table and received a standing ovation when he was handed his Ronald Reagan Defender of Freedom award.
Pompeo’s Faith and Freedom Coalition appearance comes one day after Trump swept into town. Trump spent much of his 90-minute speech criticizing the House Jan. 6 select committee, claiming the panel was investigating “an insurrection hoax.” He also teased a third presidential bid in 2024.
Pompeo, continuing his pro-Trump position, described the previous administration as “wildly unique,” joking he would “get up and check to make sure I still had a place to go to work.” Still, he promoted Trump’s record, particularly his “America First” platform, touting the Abraham Accords, Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani‘s assassination, and the return of North Korea-held U.S. hostages.
“Every day, we got up and fought for you, everywhere and always, all around the world,” he said. “I traveled to 100-plus countries, and not one time did I travel abroad and apologize for the United States.”
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In interviews on the sidelines of the conference’s speaker and breakout sessions, even in a nearby hotel lobby, numerous attendees told the Washington Examiner that Trump is their preferred nominee for the 2024 cycle. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was routinely their second option.
