In a speech promoted as focusing on the Bill of Rights, Pompeo strongly attacked Democrats, arguing that they “pretend to care about jobs in America” and destroyed the Biden government by cutting a key license for the Keystone XL pipeline project. He criticized his predecessor as secretary of state, John Kerry, now sent from Biden to the climate, for suggesting at a press conference in January that fossil fuel workers who lost their jobs could “make … solar panels”.
“You ask the good people in the middle of Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas, or South Dakota or Pennsylvania, do you think oil engineers and platform workers are going to make solar panels?”, He added.
He also combined the Trump administration’s economic and immigration records with the government’s foreign policy.
“‘America First’ is right for America,” said Pompeo. “The whole world benefits when America is fearless, bold and strong.”
“[Democrats] they want to strip the police while they barricade the Capitol, ”said Pompeo. “This is backwards. And canceling our freedom to meet peacefully while censoring our online communications is completely contrary to what our founders understood about America. ”
The Kansas ex-legislator is among a group of potential populist candidates who jostle amid Republican Party calculations in the post-Trump era – although the former president remains widely popular with Republican Party voters.
Some of those in this range include Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, all of whom have already spoken at CPAC. Trump is expected to speak at the CPAC on Sunday.
More than half of Republicans said in a recent POLITICO / Morning Consult poll that they would vote for the former president if the primary was held today, with all the other candidates well behind. Mike Pence led the secondary group with 12%. Pompeo got 2%.