Perfect message

Apparently Mike Pompeo is in Kazakhstan saying it’s great to punish journalists for doing their job. Way to represent, Mike!

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the State Department’s decision to deny NPR press credentials for his trip to Europe following his confrontation with reporter Mary Louise Kelly, stating in an interview in Kazakhstan Sunday that it sends “a perfect message about press freedoms” to the world.

What perfect message is that? “You can’t have them”?

It sends a great message, and he hopes the rest of the world will follow our press freedoms – the ones where the State Department punishes a network because a reporter from that network asked questions the boss didn’t like. I’m not sure “our press freedoms” is the right label for that behavior.

During an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pompeo denied that he had a confrontational interview with Kelly and said the State Department only grants press credentials when it believes reporters are “telling the truth and being honest,” according to a transcript.

And (under Pompeo) it only believes reporters are “telling the truth and being honest” when they don’t report on Pompeo’s actions.

“I always bring a big press contingent, but we ask for certain sets of behaviors, and that’s simply telling the truth and being honest. And when they’ll do that, they get to participate, and if they don’t, it’s just not appropriate — frankly, it’s not fair to the rest of the journalists who are participating alongside them,” Pompeo said.

Which is ironic because in fact he’s the one who is not telling the truth and being honest here.

What a sack of shit he is.

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