Pompeo defends Trump on Russia in Chris Wallace interview

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed back against assertions that former President Trump was not tough on Russia during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” 

Host Chris Wallace talked about former Trump’s record on Russia, saying that his administration did not stop Russia from continuing to build the Nord Stream pipeline, a gas line running from Russia to Germany.

He also said that the former president never condemned the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny or his arrest, which occurred while Trump was in office.

“Well, Chris, you said it yourself. They didn’t complete the pipeline. We had imposed real sanctions on the ships that were doing the construction, the insurers that were underwriting. We made clear that that pipeline was not going to be completed. It would not have been completed had we had four more years. I’m very, very confident of that,” Pompeo said.  

“And with respect to human rights, I — we take a backseat to no one. I heard Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken talk about the work they’re doing to try and convince the Europeans to stand alongside us on human rights violations in China and the work that they’ve done defending human rights against Russian abuses. We were tough there too, Chris. I’m proud of the work we did there. It was good work. It was serious work, and it made a difference,” Pompeo added.