EDMONDS—Former United States Secretary of State, Director of Central Intelligence Agency, and potential Vice President pick for presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, Donald J Trump, Mike Pompeo, made a rare Snohomish County appearance at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds on Sunday, April 14, to discuss his faith, international relations, and the future outlook of American exceptionalism.
Westgate Chapel’s Apologia speaker series is a monthly, Sunday evening, event where nationally recognized voices address the local Christian community on topics where culture and biblical values intersect, the church’s website states. Past speakers have been Dennis Prager, founder of Prager University, Kayleigh McEnany, former White House Press Secretary in the Trump Administration, and Star Parker, presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights California Advisory Committee.
Pompeo was the United States’ 70th Secretary of State, serving under former President Donald J Trump’s administration. Prior to serving as Secretary of State he served as the Director of the CIA and, before that, he was elected to serve four terms in Congress representing Kansas’ fourth district.
Pompeo was a businessman before an executive founding the Kansas-based aircraft part manufacturing firm Fair Aerospace. Pompeo holds a degree from Harvard Law School, graduated first in class at the U.S. Military Academy at Westpoint and served as a U.S. Army tank platoon leader. His career has taken him to West Berlin during the Cold War, lead a machine shop floor in Kansas, and lead our nation’s intelligence agents and diplomats.
At Sunday’s Apologia speaker series event, Westgate Chapel Senior Pastor Alec Rowlands moderated a campfire discussion with Pompeo on the future of the nation under a Christian Conservative lens.
Pompeo, a staunch and outspoken Christian, shared that he was brought to his faith while serving at the U.S. Military Academy. His only real free day from working, he said, was on Sundays and, without anything better to do, he wandered into a place that was advertising free lemonade and cookies; that place ended up being a Bible study. It was here, he said, where he first entered his faith.
“Among the biggest risks that we face today in our country, and there are many, is the lack of faith in our central institutions,” said Pompeo. “They’ve lost faith because they’ve watched these leaders of these institutions behave in ways that are deeply inconsistent with our American value set.”
Pompeo said his solution would be to put the right leadership in place. He claimed the “left has infiltrated these institutions” for the last 20 years and conservatives need to take it back. He then shared his thoughts on restructuring the FBI and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2024.
The conversation then took a turn to global politics—the Ukraine/Russia conflict—siding with Ukraine and taking a firm stance on defending European sovereignty from Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s reign.
Pompeo criticized President Biden’s approach to national security stating Putin took a fifth of Ukraine in 2015 under President Obama’s administration where Biden was Vice President, none during the Trump administration, and within a handful of months, Putin then infiltrated Ukraine under the Biden administration. He said it all came down to leadership and Putin’s belief that the U.S. would not get involved with a Democratic President in office.
As part of its Declaration of State Sovereignty from the Soviet Union in 1990, Ukraine stated it would not acquire nor produce nuclear weapons and in 1991 declared non-nuclear-weapon status. On December 5, 1994, the United State, Ukraine, Russia, and the United Kingdon signed a memorandum to provide Ukraine with security assurances in exchange for the nation destroying its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo expounded noting that it is the duty of the U.S. to “live up to our promises.” Pompeo also mentioned he spent a lot of time convincing North Korea’s Chairman Kim to give up his nuclear weapons but to no avail.
Pompeo added that the current Russian operation in Ukraine is a direct result of decisions President Biden’s administration has made and their failure of not keeping an effective risk-level for Russia with the weapons the U.S. gifted Ukraine.
“Think about this: A mother in Moscow puts her baby to sleep and does not fear a thing. A mother in Kiev, in Ukraine, puts her baby to sleep and prays that a missile doesn’t attack their home. When that asymmetry exists it’s a green light for the bad guys,” said Pompeo. “It’s in America’s best interest that Vladimir Putin not win.”
As far as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Pompeo took a stance stating that Jerusalem is the rightful Holy Land of the Jewish people and a healthy Middle East means a healthy United States because “we’ve had to send our children to fight in the Middle East too many times.”
“We have one deep, longtime friend and ally that is with us no matter what — that’s the Israelis. Not only are they a democracy but there’s the greatest chance of anywhere in the Middle East for religious freedom. If you’re a Muslim you can practice your faith, a Jew, a Christian, you can practice your faith. In many places in the Middle East that’s not true,” said Pompeo.
Pompeo noted he has visited Israel several times and he was headed back there directly after finishing up the Sunday’s event at Westgate Church.
In late March of this year, Pompeo was asked if he were being considered by presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, Donald J Trump, as a potential vice presidential running mate. He noted he would be “pretty inclined to do so and join the team,” he told the Guy Benson Show on March 28.
BREAKING: We had the honor of just having fmr Secretary of State @mikepompeo on the show, and he said if offered the VP position, he would, "Be inclined to go and try and be a part of the team."
Listen below and click the link for the full interview!
🎧: https://t.co/iDhZdsVprk pic.twitter.com/Rvt17mNSWL
— The Guy Benson Show (@GuyBensonShow) March 28, 2024
Former President Trump told reporters at FOX News, just weeks earlier, that he had consolidated his potential running mate list to a handful of options, Pompeo being one of them. Other names on that list included Florida Senator Marco Rubio, New York Representative Elise Stefanik, and former Trump Cabinet official Ben Carson.
Running mates are traditionally announced around July or August of the Presidential Election year.
Upcoming Apologia speaker series events at Edmonds’ Westgate Chapel include best-selling author and radio host Eric Mataxas on June 9 at 6 p.m., and FOX News Host and author Pete Hegseth on September 15 at 6 p.m.
