Mike Pompeo at CPAC: ‘We Were Willing to Challenge the Elites’

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the “elites” during his speech at CPAC Saturday, defending the “America First” agenda by declaring, “We were willing to challenge the elites.”

“I’m proud of our fight. And I’m proud of our accomplishments. We have truly upended the status quo,” Pompeo declared to a standing ovation. “We’ve been called clowns, deplorables, ignorant, and rednecks; we’ve been called the evil resistance” by the elites.

He asked, “I hear President Biden saying America is back. Back to what?”

Pompeo then listed several domestic accomplishments of the Trump administration, emphasizing the ability of “American workers to make a good wage,” and the creation of American energy jobs while demanding “fair and reciprocal trade.”

Pompeo seemed most pleased with his foreign policy successes, rattling off “staying out of wars,” moving the embassy to Jerusalem, consummating the Abraham Accords, and bringing hostages back to the United States. “America first means never forgetting our American warriors,” he said.

“When we are weak at home, the risk of war increases,” Pompeo warned in reference to cancel culture. “These four years are going to test us,” but “my mother once said, we don’t ever wear down; we wear them down.”

Pompeo’s speech, well received by the conservative crowd in Orlando, Florida, left a final thought for his listeners: “Never be afraid to tell people the truth.”