Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the Republican convention, comparing President Trump to iconic World War II general and former President Dwight Eisenhower as he lauded the incumbent for confronting China, lowering tensions with North Korea, and blunting the rise of Islamic jihadism in the Middle East.
“President Trump understands what my great fellow Kansan, President Eisenhower, said: ‘For all that we cherish and justly desire, for ourselves or for our children, the securing of peace is the first requisite,’” Pompeo said as he spoke to the virtual Republican gathering in prerecorded remarks from Jerusalem, an unusual move for a senior Cabinet official.
In addressing the convention from Jerusalem, Pompeo no doubt sought to highlight a major theme of this week’s four-day celebration to renominate Trump — that the president keeps his campaign promises. Two years ago, honoring a 2016 pledge, Trump moved the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, ignoring warnings from some critics that the move would inflame tensions with the Palestinians.
“The president moved the U.S. Embassy to this very city of God, Jerusalem, the rightful capital of the Jewish homeland,” Pompeo said. “The president brokered an historic peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This is a deal that our grandchildren will read about in their history books.”
Pompeo also touted Trump’s decision to eliminate a top Iranian military general in retaliation for Tehran’s aggression throughout the Middle East and repeated targeting of U.S. interests in the region.
“When Iran threatened, the president approved a strike that killed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, the man responsible for the murder and maiming of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Christians across the Middle East,” the secretary said.
Pompeo, 56, is a potential candidate for president in 2024. He was appointed by Trump to run the State Department in 2018 after spending his first year in the administration as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Last year, after Republican Sen. Pat Roberts announced his retirement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky recruited Pompeo to run for Senate in Kansas, where he previously served as a congressman. Pompeo declined, citing pressing international responsibilities.
Typically, high-ranking Cabinet officials do not address the quadrennial presidential nominating conventions. Democratic critics claim Pompeo’s speech is improper, especially because it was prerecorded during a trip to Israel in his capacity as secretary of state. Republicans have dismissed the complaints, saying there is nothing unethical or illegal about the speech.
