Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has cast doubt on President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, repeatedly praised Jan. 6 as an example of a “peaceful transition” of power in an interview Thursday.
“We delivered a peaceful transition on January 6, 2021, exactly as required by our Constitution,” Pompeo, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, told Sky News.
Pompeo was fielding questions about why his new book, “Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love,” doesn’t focus more on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, because it reflects his four years working in the Trump administration.
Pompeo, who said the book focused on “how we provide security abroad”, condemned the violent aspects of January 6 but defended the outcome when speaking to Sky News.
“It’s terrible when people commit these types of acts of violence, and I hope they are properly prosecuted for doing so. But make no mistake, America showed its strength that night too. Vice President Pence ended the election. We had a peaceful transition of power,” Pompeo said.
He blamed security officials, not Trump, for the violence on Capitol Hill. “There was a bad day at the Capitol. The security team there couldn’t stop these guys from rioting there,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo was also asked about his comments days after the 2020 election that there would be a smooth transition to “a second Trump administration.” In a Fox News interview at the time, Pompeo made no mention of handing over power to Biden.
Pompeo argued Thursday that his comments were taken out of context.
“To read the full statement that I made that day, I spoke decently about the United States of America,” Pompeo said. “And I don’t describe it as stolen. But there are a lot of anomalies in our election. And we can’t have that in the United States.”
Nikki Haley, another former Trump administration official, is expected to officially announce a run for the White House in mid-February, making her the first Republican opponent of Trump.
When asked about Trump’s candidacy, Pompeo said the former president will “make his case before the American people.”
“I am sure there will be many others from both parties who will also believe that they should be the next leader,” he added. “I have enormous confidence in the American people that they will figure everything out.”
In an interview Thursday morning, Trump declined to say he would support another Republican if he won the Republican nomination next year.
“It would depend,” Trump told conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt on his radio show. “I would give him the same answer that I gave in 2016 during the debate, the first question I was asked… It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”
Sean Nevin and rebecca shabad contributed.
