Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a really humiliating day at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday as two planned pauses to allow for applause were met with silence from the audience of foreign leaders in attendance.
This very month four years ago, Jeb Bush stood in front of a crowd and begged them to “please clap” after he made remarks and no one applauded. It was the most embarrassing moment of his campaign to become the Republican nominee. Of course, we all know that Donald Trump would go on to become the nominee.
And just a year ago at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Mike Pence was met with awkward silence from the crowd after he mentioned Trump and expected applause.
“I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump,” Pence said, calling Trump a “champion of freedom.”
He paused, but no one cheered or clapped.
Here’s the video via YouTube:
And this year, it happened again.
Only this time it was Pompeo who delivered the sucking up.
“Today, throughout the Western Hemisphere, we have only Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as redoubts of authoritarianism,” he stated. “Meanwhile, the United States is thriving. Our political system is free and enormously resilient. Our economy, too, is strong. The overall unemployment rate is the lowest in more than half a century, economic growth tripping right along. The unemployment rate for women is at the lowest level in almost 70 years. Wages are rising for all income levels in the United States, including our blue-collar workers. This is the power of the Western idea.”
He paused, only to be greeted with silence instead of the applause he had hoped for.
“The West is winning,” he continued. “Freedom and democracy are winning. And by that, I don’t mean just geographical nations. The West doesn’t define a space or a piece of real estate. It’s any nation – any nation that adopts a model of respect for individual freedom, free enterprise, national sovereignty. They’re part of this idea of the West.”
The crowd still remained silent.
Here’s the video via YouTube:
Our allies know that Trump himself is an authoritarian who is assaulting freedom and democracy in the United States. Applauding would mean giving the wannabe dictator the adulation he craves. Pompeo also repeated Trump’s lies about the American economy, which is hurting because of his trade wars and tax cuts for the rich.
Pompeo received nothing but silence throughout his remarks.
The reaction he received clearly demonstrates that America is not “respected again” as Trump claims. Our nation is a joke on the world stage and that will only continue to be the case as long as Trump is in office.
Featured Image: YouTube screenshot
