Bolton slaps down Pompeo presidential chatter: ‘Lack of character renders him unfit’
Ryan King
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Former national security adviser John Bolton tore into Mike Pompeo’s character Thursday, and suggested that he is “unfit” to be president.
Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director in the Trump administration, admonished Bolton in his new book released this week and argued he should be thrown in jail. Both Pompeo and Bolton have toyed with the idea of a 2024 presidential run, but Bolton said he believes Pompeo’s “let his ambition overcome his principles.”
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“I think Pompeo is bright enough to be president. But I would very much worry that his ambition once again would overtake his principles. And I think the way he approached not just me but apparently other former colleagues in the book shows the lack of character that probably renders him unfit to be president,” Bolton told CBS.
Pompeo’s book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, hit bookshelves Tuesday. In it, Pompeo used sharp words to describe Bolton with “self-serving,” “treason,” and “scumbag loser,” being just a few. He also accused Bolton of leaking sensitive information to the public when he released his book, The Room Where It Happened in 2020.
“I hope I can one day testify at a criminal trial as a witness for the prosecution,” Pompeo wrote about Bolton, Business Insider reported.”His self-serving stories contained classified information and deeply sensitive conversations involving a sitting commander-in-chief. That’s the very definition of treason.”
Back in 2020, a federal judge rejected a bid from former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to prevent Bolton from releasing the book on the grounds that it contained classified information.
Bolton countered that his book underwent an “arduous” four-month pre-publication review process to ensure there was no classified information in it.
“The responsible National Security Council official, a career employee of the National Archives, working at the NSC, cleared the book. Trump prevented the clearance from going out because he didn’t want the book published before the election. In fact, he said at one point after the election, ‘no problem,'” Bolton told CBS.
Bolton’s book served as a tell-all of the Trump administration and struck a critical tone against Pompeo. He recounted the aftermath of a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim John Un in which he alleged Pompeo passed him a note suggesting Trump had been “foolish.” Throughout the Trump administration, Pompeo cast himself as a stalwart ally of the then-president.
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Since his White House departure, Pompeo has taken a few veiled potshots at Trump and lambasted Kim in his memoir. Pompeo has also teased that he expects to make a decision on 2024. Meanwhile, Bolton has noted that if a good alternative to Trump does not emerge, he will consider entering the 2024 fray. He was particularly alarmed by Trump’s floating the prospect of terminating rules in the Constitution over the 2020 election.
“I think he is [a threat to national security]. I believe that the damage he did during his term was significant but repairable. I strongly opposed him getting a second term because I worried that what he would do in a second term might be irreparable,” Bolton added, referring to Trump.