'Good job': Trump astonishingly praises Pompeo for abusing and threatening NPR journalist over Ukraine question
National Public Radio (NPR) has found itself in a tense engagement with the State Department. Following the latter’s decision to stop NPR reporter Michele Keleman to travel with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on an upcoming trip to Europe, the radio network has sought an explanation from the State Department over its move.
On Tuesday, January 28, NPR President and CEO John Lansing said the same. “We have sought clarification from the State Department regarding Michele Kelemen being dropped” from the trip, Lansing wrote to the employees in an email. “We have also asked what it means for future trips,” he said. He also said the State Department did not respond to the NPR’s initial attempts to communicate but they were not letting it go. Lansing said access to the people in power is fundamental to “the role of journalism in America”.
Last week, Pompeo was irked when he was asked a question about Ukraine by NPR host Mary Louise Kelly. After the interview was cut off, the journalist was called to the Secretary of State’s private living room where he allegedly slammed and threatened her and used the f-word repeatedly. He even challenged her to find Ukraine on a blank map.
On the same day, President Donald Trump openly sided with Pompeo on the episode. He lauded Pompeo, counted among the survivors in the Trump administration, for slamming Kelly and denying Keleman the opportunity to accompany him on his trip. The trip will see Pompeo paying his first trip to Ukraine, a country that has turned out to be a major topic of discussion in American politics, thanks to the impeachment procedure against Trump.
At an event in the White House that touted the Trump administration’s newly unveiled Middle East Peace Plan, Trump acknowledged the teams that worked on the plan and as he mentioned Pompeo’s name, the people present on the occasion stood up to give him a round of applause.
Trump was pleasantly surprised by the crowd’s ovation and then he mentioned the NPR issue. “Wow, that's impressive. That was very impressive, Mike. That reporter couldn't have done too good a job on you yesterday,” he said.
As people laughed at his hint, the President added, “Think you did a good job on her, actually.” The dig was at the NPR journalist at whom Pompeo screamed.
“That's good, thank you, Mike. Great,” Trump added. He then joked by asking Pompeo whether he is still running for Senate and then said the answer could be no, especially after the recent episode.
The President even retweeted a post from conservative radio broadcaster Mark Levin who asked, "Why does NPR still exist?"
Pompeo accused Kelly of lying to him about the topic of the interview and accusing him of what had followed. According to him, Kelly wanted to discuss Iran with him though she had not produced any evidence in support of that. Kelly, on the other hand, said she confirmed with Pompeo’s press secretary that she wanted to ask the secretary of state questions on both Iran and Ukraine.
Kelly had just returned to Tehran where the assassination of top military leader Qassem Soleimani has left quite an impact. She alleged that Pompeo asked her to point out Ukraine on the blank map and then in his statement, he said, “Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine” to imply that Kelly has little idea over where is Ukraine.
It is though difficult to imagine how Bangladesh could be mistaken for Ukraine since both countries hugely differ over their size and location.
The Republican camp has always been against the NPR and its television equivalent PBS and has sought abolition of its public funding, although that has not been a reality yet. In 2018, the NPR’s direct federal funding was $1.8 million out of a total revenue of $232.7 million and it also receives grants from other federal sources.