“He shouted at me for about the same amount of time as the
[9-minute] interview itself had lasted. He was not happy to have been
questioned about Ukraine. He asked, ‘Do you think Americans care about
Ukraine?’ He used the F-word in that sentence and many others.
“He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map; I said yes. He
called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no
countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine. He put the map away. He said, ‘People
will hear about this.’”
—Mary Louise Kelly, NPR reporter and “All Things
Considered” cohost, “After
Contentious Interview, Pompeo Publicly Accuses NPR Journalist of Lying to Him,”
NPR, Jan. 25, 2020.
“There
is a reason that freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution. There
is a reason it matters that people in positions of power — people charged with
steering the foreign policy of entire nations — be held to account. The stakes
are too high for their impulses and decisions not to be examined in as
thoughtful and rigorous an interview as is possible.
“Journalists
don’t sit down with senior government officials in the service of scoring
political points. We do it in the service of asking tough questions, on behalf
of our fellow citizens. And then sharing the answers — or lack thereof — with
the world.
—Mary Louise Kelly,
NPR reporter and “All Things Considered” cohost, “Pompeo
Called Me a ‘Liar.’ That’s Not What Bothers Me,” The New York Times, Jan.
28, 2020.
• Editorial Comment: This man is America’s top diplomat. Should we worry?
Husky Road Trip
February’s
Senior News hits newsstands!
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