Saturday, January 25, 2020

Secretary Pompeo yelled the f-word at an NPR host 
following a tense interview about Ukraine and Marie Yovanovitch


CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks during the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) National Security Summit in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. Pompeo says the U.S. is going to do everything it can to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table in Afghanistan. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster


NPR host Mary Louise Kelly said State Secretary Mike Pompeo shouted and cursed at her and demanded she find Ukraine on a map, following a tense interview about former US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.


"He asked, 'Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?'" she said. "He used the F-word in that sentence and many others."


Kelly, who is the host of "All Things Considered," began the interview with questions about Iran and the Middle East.


When it shifted to Ukraine, Pompeo refused to answer any questions, and according to Kelly he berated her after the interview.


NPR host Mary Louise Kelly claimed State Secretary Mike Pompeo cursed at her and forced her to point to Ukraine on a map following a tense interview about Ukraine and former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

Kelly, who is the host of "All Things Considered," began the interview with questions about Iran. However, when she began to talk about Ukraine and Yovanovitch, Pompeo's demeanor shifted to the defensive.

"Do you owe Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch an apology?" Kelly asked Pompeo during the interview, referring to the former US ambassador to Ukraine. Yovanovitch was abruptly recalled from her position last year after Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, subjected her to what she and other witnesses characterized as a smear campaign.

"You know, I agreed to come on your show today to talk about Iran," he replied. "That's what I intend to do."

Pompeo continued to deflect Kelly's questions about Yovanovitch before abruptly ending the interview.


In her remarks after the interview, Kelly claimed that she met with the secretary afterwards, where she said he was upset by her questions about Ukraine and cursed at her.

"I was taken to the Secretary's private living room where he was waiting and where he shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the interview itself," Kelly said, according to CNN reporter Daniel Dale. "He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine."

"He asked, 'Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?'" she added. "He used the F-word in that sentence and many others."

Kelly then said the state secretary demanded that she find Ukraine on a map and had his aides to bring in a blank world map to do so. She said Pompeo told her, "'People will hear about this.'"


Representatives from the State Department did not immediately respond to Business Insider's emails for comment.
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