Pompeo: Run for President Not Affected by Trump's Plans (Newsmax)
By Charlie McCarthy | Tuesday, 15 November 2022 11:01 AM EST
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that his decision concerning a run for president in 2024 will not be impacted by former President Donald Trump's plans.
Pompeo was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday, hours before Trump was expected to announce the start of his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
"We're trying to think our way though, figuring out what's next for us," Pompeo, referring to himself and wife Susan, told Hewitt. "We've been part of the conservative movement for 30 years. We will still be part of the conservative movement until the good Lord takes us from this planet.
"And our decision about whether that'll be by putting ourselves forward in the election that's ahead of us still is a decision to be made. But what happens today or tomorrow, what some other person decides won't have any impact on that."
Pompeo has been mentioned as a potential contender for the GOP nomination, as has other Trump administration veterans including former President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, assuming he runs, widely is considered to be Trump's top opponent.
Pompeo told Hewitt that his decision will come "probably by the spring."
"But you know, these are deeply personal decisions, and we will sort our way through," Pompeo told Hewitt. "And as soon as we have figured it out, we will let the American people know, and you'll figure it out, too, because you'll see me in Manchester and Des Moines and South Carolina."
Pompeo was a former congressman from Kansas before serving as Trump's CIA director and then secretary of state. He appears to have remained on good terms with the former president, who was planning to kick off his 2024 campaign at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night.
"What I hope he'll talk about is things that matter to the American people, things that can work for them going forward," Pompeo told Hewitt. "I served in the administration. I'm proud of the policies we laid out.
"We need more seriousness. We need less noise. We need steady hands. We need leaders that are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood."
Hewitt asked Pompeo whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., should continue to lead their respective conferences in the new Congress.
"I think both of them are going to be the next leaders," Pompeo said. "I'm less worried, to be honest, Hugh, with the palace intrigue. I am much more worried about our focus to make sure that as we move into what is now the 2024 campaign season, as we move into making this case over these next 23 months, we have to articulate why it is we can actually fix."