Pompeo Reportedly Curses At NPR Reporter During Intense Interview

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly cursed at a reporter from the National Public Radio (NPR) during an interview involving questions about Ukraine and former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

According to a Friday report by NPR, reporter Mary Louise Kelly questioned Pompeo regarding the issue on Yovanovitch being recalled last year following her position removal by U.S. President Donald Trump last year.

During the exchange, Kelly said she repeatedly asked whether he owed Yovanovitch an apology for seemingly having failed to defend the people under his wing. “I’ve done what’s right for every single person on this team,” Pompeo said.

Kelly went on to ask about specific times when he came under Yovanovitch’s defense, but the White House official reportedly cut the journalist off before ending the interview. Pompeo reportedly glared at the NPR reporter for a few seconds before walking out. Shortly after the interview, Kelly was asked to follow an aid to the State Secretary’s private living room minus a recorder. Inside the room, Pompeo allegedly cursed at Kelly, asking whether the latter thinks Americans “care about Ukraine.”

While the interview started with questions regarding Washington’s position on Iran, Pompeo reportedly did not offer specifics about how the U.S. government plans to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Aside from using expletives multiple times and shouting at the reporter, Pompeo reportedly asked Kelly if she could find the country in question on a map, NBC News reported. The 70^th U.S. Secretary of State then reportedly asked his aids to bring a map that had no marking or writing. Kelly said she pointed at Ukraine on the map, but Pompeo grabbed the map before turning away from Kelly and stating that he had other things to do.

The State Department has yet to comment on the issue officially, but a Dem-chaired house committee already criticized Pompeo after news of the said interview emerged.

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee took to Twitter to express dismay over Pompeo’s handling of the interview. Chaired by New York Democrat Eliot Engel, the committee said Kelly provided Pompeo multiple chances to defend Yovanovitch, but he chose to end the interview.

According to CNN, NPR did inform the State Department that it will report on how the interview went, but the office did not respond.

The U.S. policy on Ukraine is currently in the middle of the impending impeachment of Trump.