Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues with a series of events that have raised the eyebrows of political opponents, ahead of the November presidential election.
Casting aside a long tradition of the nation’s top diplomat shunning partisan politics, Pompeo gave a speech on Wednesday in the swing state of Wisconsin, marking his participation in the fourth event this month.
From the Republican National Convention, which he addressed by recorded video from Israel, to an evangelical megachurch in Texas over the weekend and the Value Voters Summit in Washington just on Tuesday, Pompeo has been bold in taking his message to audiences considered essential to President Donald Trump's reelection. And, more are scheduled.
Pompeo and his aides have denied any wrongdoing and defended his appearances as part of explaining foreign policy and the State Department's role to the American people.
And, Pompeo is not alone. He’s just one of many cabinet members going to battleground states as Nov. 3 draws near.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette are among agency heads making scores of trips this year to swing states — announcing federal grants and other aid for each targeted state or promoting Trump initiatives that they say have helped boost the local economy and residents.
Cabinet-level travel to Pennsylvania and other states vital to Trump in the Electoral College have intensified in recent weeks.
Pompeo's home state of Kansas has been a frequent destination, but he has also spoken in Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky at events that might not otherwise be considered prime locations for foreign policy discourse.
After Pompeo's China-focused speech at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison on Wednesday, Wisconsin Democrat state Sen. Chris Larson decried the appearance, calling it a “campaign speech disguised as a foreign policy address.”
But Pompeo's appearance at the Republican National Convention last month — it attracted a substantial backlash from Democrats — appears to have set the stage for an all-out, election-year push for Trump as Pompeo touts the president's full-throated support for Israel, promotion of international religious freedom and increasingly tough stance on China.
In addition to the Wisconsin state Senate on Wednesday, Pompeo spoke to evangelicals, a key demographic for Trump at the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, at services last Sunday.
“As the secretary of state I’m not allowed to do politics,” he told the congregation, “but I can do duty, and it is everyone’s duty to be counted, to stand up and express your preference, the things that you want, and to go to the polling place and exercise that freedom that we have been given and that our officers and security teams will ensure that we have the opportunity to go vote.”
“Go exercise that right and make sure every one of your friends does the same, and then the Lord will pass upon it and we will come out of this election a stronger, better nation,” he said. “I am confident of that.”