The head of the State Department, Mike Pompeo, was faced with an overly persistent journalist.
This was reported by the American National Public Radio following a failed interview with the Head of the US Foreign Affairs agency.
According to media reports, journalist Mary Louise Kelly persistently sought answers from Pompeo to questions regarding the dismissal of the Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Jovanovic. In particular, she asked whether the Secretary of State defended her subordinate behaviour in conversations with the US President Donald Trump.
The reason for this issue was the testimony of the former Secretary of State Secretary Michael McKinley to Congress. Last fall, in private hearings, he said that the US administration was using the US ambassadors abroad to achieve domestic political goals.
Pompeo was desperately trying to get away from the answer. He stated that the interview, which took place in the building of the State Department, was devoted exclusively to Iranian topics. The diplomat even began to shout at the persistent journalist, and eventually ran away.
After that, officers of the diplomatic service approached Kelly and asked to go with them, leaving the recorder, to the “private chambers of the Secretary of State”.
“He was waiting for me there”, – she said.
“He started yelling at me. This went on as long as the interview itself lasted”.
At the same time, Kelly noted that the chief diplomat of the United States did not disdain obscene expressions addressed to her, demonstrating dissatisfaction with the sensitive topic. Finally, Pompeo asked the journalist a rhetorical question: Does she believe that Americans are interested in Ukraine? When Kelly answered in the affirmative, the Secretary of State demanded that his subordinates bring a map of the world and asked if the journalist could at least show where Ukraine was located. When Kelly dealt with the “task”, Pompeo left, pointing to “urgent matters”.