Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent comments that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” despite President-elect Joe Biden’s projected victory in last week’s presidential election, prompted a wide range of reactions. Some critics found the words alarming, while others saw the statement as an attempt to rile up President Trump’s base that includes an option for Pompeo to claim he was joking and blast his opponents for overreacting. Even if that is the case, some say, the joke isn’t funny.Count former Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who also served on former President Barack Obama’s national security council, among those who are legitimately concerned. Power tweeted Tuesday that Pompeo’s words were “reckless, dangerous, and damaging to U.S. security.Meanwhile, another Obama official, Ben Rhodes, who served as the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, called Pompeo out for hypocrisy, arguing that the State Department would publicly condemn a similar statement from a foreign official whose party lost an election. > The State Department would normally be putting out statements condemning comments like this from foreign officials whose party lost elections. https://t.co/Iw292RFwPq> > — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) November 10, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump’s aggressive assault on election integrity is reportedly making some of his outside lawyers queasy Does it matter if Donald Trump never concedes? Intelligence officials have found a silver lining to Trump’s ‘scant attention’ in briefings
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent comments that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” despite President-elect Joe Biden’s projected victory in last week’s presidential election, prompted a wide range of reactions. Some critics found the words alarming, while others saw the statement as an attempt to rile up President Trump’s base that includes an option for Pompeo to claim he was joking and blast his opponents for overreacting. Even if that is the case, some say, the joke isn’t funny.Count former Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who also served on former President Barack Obama’s national security council, among those who are legitimately concerned. Power tweeted Tuesday that Pompeo’s words were “reckless, dangerous, and damaging to U.S. security.Meanwhile, another Obama official, Ben Rhodes, who served as the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, called Pompeo out for hypocrisy, arguing that the State Department would publicly condemn a similar statement from a foreign official whose party lost an election. > The State Department would normally be putting out statements condemning comments like this from foreign officials whose party lost elections. https://t.co/Iw292RFwPq> > — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) November 10, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump’s aggressive assault on election integrity is reportedly making some of his outside lawyers queasy Does it matter if Donald Trump never concedes? Intelligence officials have found a silver lining to Trump’s ‘scant attention’ in briefings