U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruffled a few feathers on Tuesday when he said that there will be “a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
Pompeo made the remark after a reporter asked if the administration was “preparing to engage with the Biden transition team and, if not, at what point does a delay hamper a smooth transition or pose a risk to national security?”
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo responded. “Right?”
“We’re ready,” he said. “The world is watching what’s taking place here. We’re gonna count all the votes; when the process is complete, there will be electors selected.”
The former CIA director also noted that this isn’t his first time going through something like this and everything will work out when it is supposed to. “I’ve been on the other side of this. I’m very confident that we will do all the things that are necessary to make sure that the government … will continue to perform its national security functions as we go forward,” he said.
At one point it was clear that Pompeo was getting tired of the questions. As a reporter asked if Trump’s refusal to concede the election discredited State Department efforts to encourage free and fair elections around the globe, Pompeo responded with “That’s ridiculous. And you know it’s ridiculous. And you asked it because it’s ridiculous.”
Joe Biden, meanwhile, may be jumping the gun from his side of the transition, as he has reportedly already been reaching out to foreign leaders, something that Trump was scrutinized for when he made calls as the “official” president-elect back in 2016.
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