Mike Pompeo really doesn't want to talk to Fox News about Trump's comments on accepting foreign dirt

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace on Sunday, and he was eager to talk about Iran and the apparent attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Friday but less excited to discuss President Trump's comments about accepting foreign dirt on domestic opponents from foreign governments.

"Is accepting oppo research from a foreign government right or wrong?" Wallace asked Pompeo, after playing a clip of Trump telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he would accept such information. Pompeo first suggested that the question was "ridiculous," then said Trump "has been very clear" and "clarified his remarks later" that he would both accept the information and call the FBI. Wallace pointed out that Trump said he would "maybe" call the FBI, and Pompeo said Trump "has been very clear that he will always make sure that he gets it right for the American people."

They disagreed on whether Trump had "walked" his comments back on Friday's Fox & Friends, and Wallace played more of Trump's ABC News interview. Pompeo claimed that Trump agrees with America's founders that foreign interference in a U.S. election is bad, then cut the line of questioning short: "I have nothing further to add. I came on to talk about foreign policy and I think [that's] the third time you've asked me about a Washington piece of silliness, that chased down the story that is inconsistent with what I've seen President Trump do every single day."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Presumably, a foreign government interfering in the U.S. election and how the president handles it would qualify as "foreign policy" and not as Washington "silliness,' but as CNN reported Friday, Trump's answer on the question isn't playing well among Trump's allies. Peter Weber