In response to a question about Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recommending he fire an inspector general investigating him for improper use of government resources, President Donald Trump said he preferred for government employees to wash Pompeo’s dishes if his wife or child weren’t present, so he can continue to do his work.
“And now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes and, you know what, I’d rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn’t there or his kids aren’t there, you know,” Trump told reporters.
You can watch a clip of Trump’s remarks below.
Here's Trump suggesting today that Mike Pompeo had good reason to ask a State Department employee to wish his dishes because "maybe his wife isn't there." pic.twitter.com/fMMaHbTeYs
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
The president claimed to have no knowledge of the investigations.
“You mean he’s under investigation because he had somebody walk his dog from the government? I don’t know, doesn’t sound, I don’t think it sounds like that important,” he said, adding that maybe Pompeo was “busy, and maybe he’s negotiating with Kim Jong Un, OK, about nuclear weapons. So that he’d say, ‘Please, could you walk my dog? Do you mind walking my dog? I’m talking to Kim Jong Un.’ Or, ‘I’m talking to President Xi about paying us for some of the damage they’ve caused to the world and to us, please walk my dog.’ To who, a Secret Service person or somebody, right?”
Pompeo, for his part, says he asked the president to remove State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because Linick was “undermining” the department.
“I went to the President and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasn’t performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to, that was additive for the State Department, very consistent with what the statute says he’s supposed to be doing,” he said. “The kinds of activities he’s supposed to undertake to make us better, to improve us.”
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
