WASHINGTON — After years of preaching that world leaders need to quickly follow the decisions of citizens, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has actually decided on the opposite message in the house.
Pompeo has actually required a tranquil shift of power and totally free and reasonable elections in numerous foreign nations, consisting of simply today in Myanmar. Yet, the secretary is now likewise recommending President-choose Joe Biden’s forecasted triumph in the U.S. election might be reversed through legal action to award President Donald Trump another 4 years.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo stated with a smile Tuesday from the exact same podium at the Department of State where he and others have actually advised others to step aside after election beats.
He included: “The world is watching what’s taking place.”
Pompeo’s idea that Biden might not have actually won drew instant reaction from U.S. diplomats, numerous of whom informed NBC News the assertion weakened U.S. efforts to promote democracy, in addition to critics who stated Pompeo was doing exactly what he himself has actually consistently condemned in foreign nations.
“Foreign leaders appear to have greater respect for America’s norms than it appears the secretary of state does,” Wendy Sherman, a previous State Department authorities who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, stated.
“It was an outrageous statement,” Sherman included. “It puts our national security at risk because it undermines our democratic transition.”
Just a day previously, Pompeo had actually slapped sanctions on previous Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman for having actually “weakened democratic organizations.” And simply as Trump’s group takes legal action against to stop vote counting in a number of states, Pompeo regreted “disenfranchisement” of citizens in Myanmar, putting the new democracy on notification the U.S. would “continue to closely monitor the electoral process.”
“We call on all relevant authorities to ensure tabulation of votes and resolution of complaints is undertaken in a transparent and credible manner,” Pompeo stated.
Former Undersecretary of State James Glassman, who went on to begin the George W. Bush Institute, stated the United States for generations has actually been winning the argument that authoritarian nations like China need to act more democratically. He stated Pompeo’s weakening of the election results plays to those foes’ hands.
“That’s a pretty strong argument the Chinese will be able to make, that you don’t need democracy, it produces some really bad results,” Glassman, who served under Bush however supported Biden this year, stated.
Pompeo, in a Fox News interview late Tuesday, softened his earlier assertion about a 2nd Trump term, rather stressing the requirement to complete counting votes and firmly insisting “whoever is in office on Jan. 20” will have the tools to prosper.
Still, his idea the election’s result was still uncertain came as crucial leaders all over the world are currently openly congratulating President-choose Joe Biden on his forecasted triumph.
That thrusts much of those exact same U.S. allies into an exceptionally precarious diplomatic position as Pompeo starts a seven-country whirlwind trip Friday, possibly his last foreign journey prior to the Biden administration takes workplace in January.
What will French President Emmanuel Macron, who talked about whatever from Covid-19 to African advancement in a call to Biden on Tuesday, state to Pompeo when he meets him in Paris, with Pompeo still openly declaring Trump will stay president next year?
How will Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu or Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, both of whom have openly acknowledged Biden’s triumph, response concerns from their own people about the authenticity of the U.S. election when Pompeo sees their nations next week?
“Just saying hi, I suppose that’s not too terribly difficult,” Pompeo stated on Fox News when inquired about foreign leaders congratulating Biden. “But make no mistake about it, we have one president, one secretary of state, one national security team at a time.”
Then, he included a threatening caution for Biden’s group about the Logan Act, which forbids Americans — such as an inbound president — from performing their own diplomacy on behalf of the U.S. federal government.
“I’m sure the Department of Justice will be keeping a good eye on that for us,” Pompeo stated.
When Trump’s very first nationwide security advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, talked with Russia’s ambassador in the days prior to Trump took workplace, it was not “just saying hi.” Flynn, rather, lobbied Moscow on how it ought to react to Obama administration sanctions in obstructed telephone call. He later on pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about those calls.
As Pompeo gets ready for his abroad journey, 2 U.S. authorities stationed overseas inform NBC News there has actually been no clear assistance to U.S. objectives on how to resolve the election results.
But 2 State Department authorities stated independently that in spite of the Trump administration’s rejection to allow cooperation with Biden’s shift, U.S. authorities have actually begun silently utilizing back channels with members of Biden’s group in anticipation of the handover of power in January.
“His statements make it clear that he will use his office to hold the entire agency hostage until he is forced to give up power,” a State Department authorities stated, speaking on the condition on privacy about Pompeo’s remarks out of worry of retribution. “This is not how a democracy works. It makes sense why we have not received any guidance on preparing for the transition.”
Pompeo’s enduring require other countries to appreciate the outcomes of “free and fair elections” have actually dovetailed with a main line of U.S. diplomacy: promo of democracy abroad. The State Department has a whole bureau, with workplaces and devoted authorities all over the world, concentrated on it.
Last year, after an objected to election for Istanbul mayor, Pompeo’s spokesperson firmly insisted that “acceptance of legitimate election results are essential for any democracy.” And in July, after a dragged out fight over the stability of elections in Guyana, Pompeo appeared on electronic camera and stated it was “long past due for a peaceful transition of power.”
“They should get on with it,” he stated.
