John Bolton Says Mike Pompeo has Eviscerated his International Credibility

Donald Trump may or may not be attempting a coup to reverse the American election results. At times the threat seems to be a complete joke like Rudy Giuliani‘s Four Seasons press conference.

At other times, Trump‘s election interference seems deadly serious. Following his firing, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that he prayed he wouldn’t be replaced by a yes-man.

During a Tuesday press conference Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may or may not have been joking when he said that he expects a smooth transition to Trump‘s second term.

Whether the comments were made in jest or not, former National Security Adviser John Bolton argued that Pompeo had just eviscerated his international credibility.

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Bolton made the comments while speaking with CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer. Well, I think it’s delusional for Mike to say that, and I must say, I think he has eviscerated his credibility internationally because I think there are very few people, even in the United States government, who believe that is the case,” he said.

The former NSA continued, “I don’t know why he had to have that briefing and I don’t know why he felt he needed to make that statement, maybe other than to avoid being fired like others are being throughout the administration. But it’s delusional.”

Bolton closed his comments by saying, “This isn’t just about President Trump pouting about the results, but he is preventing the president-elect of the United States getting intelligence briefings and blocking the start of the formal transition. At what point does this refusal to concede create, potentially, a national security threat.”

Todd Neikirk

Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.