Mike Pompeo Twitter

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went out of his way to slam the New York Times‘ 1619 Project during a speech Thursday, which sparked a deluge of outraged responses on Twitter alternately accusing Pompeo of racism, attacking the free press, and ignoring more pressing issues.

We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. 191.7k Followers, 84 Following, 136 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo86).

Pompeo ripped the project during a speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon, then posted that specific portion of his speech on Twitter.

“The @NYTimes’s 1619 Project wants you to believe our country was founded for human bondage. What a dark vision of America’s birth. What a disturbed reading of history. What a slander on our great people,” Pompeo wrote, above a clip of his remarks to the same effect.

The @NYTimes’s 1619 Project wants you to believe our country was founded for human bondage. What a dark vision of America’s birth. What a disturbed reading of history. What a slander on our great people. pic.twitter.com/s24rA3C3m8

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 16, 2020

The reactions from journalists, media figures, and other verified Twitter users were a mixture of revulsion on a variety of levels.

Among the reactions was this tweet from 1619 Project co-creator Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary this year for her contribution.

What a time. https://t.co/MP1hKtpCQi

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) July 17, 2020

Racism and historical denial were a running theme, with Young Turks host Cenk Uygur writing “Congrats! You’ve got racist bingo! You somehow managed to be racist against Asian people while trying to be racist toward black people. Mission accomplished! Your prize – Trump’s base next time you run for office!”

Congrats @SecPompeo! You’ve got racist bingo! You somehow managed to be racist against Asian people while trying to be racist toward black people. Mission accomplished! Your prize – Trump’s base next time you run for office! https://t.co/YWH2NbAR1q

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 17, 2020

NYU Professor Jay Rosen was disturbed by Pompeo’s attack on the press, writing “Darker to me is the fantastic belief that you are somehow doing the work of the American people by attacking their free press. This is what you have time for? Your job as Secretary of State is to uphold press freedom as a fundamental right around the world. Please return to it.”

Darker to me is the fantastic belief that you are somehow doing the work of the American people by attacking their free press. This is what you have time for? Your job as Secretary of State is to uphold press freedom as a fundamental right around the world. Please return to it. https://t.co/ZtPRkkndcl

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) July 17, 2020

Those themes, as well as more general shock and mockery, were shared by other prominent users.

Racism, it’s the brand! https://t.co/6hkjVfDDdV

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) July 17, 2020

What a disturbing denial of #FACTS to stand there and say this BS. https://t.co/HQHIVd6V5I

— Dr. Avis (@SistahScholar) July 17, 2020

Hey Mike:

Wall St? Built by Slaves. As was America’s original financial foundation.

The White House your daddy lives in? Built by Slaves.

As were the fortunes of most of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

You were saying?

#1619 https://t.co/12HoHThnx1

— (((evan shapiro))) (@eshap) July 17, 2020

Pompeo always comes off as a high schooler who read a Federalist Paper and now thinks he’s destined to be president. https://t.co/04nkNctxKh

— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 17, 2020

Trump-as I keep saying-can NOT run in 2020 on the economy since it collapsed or how well he managed Covid-19 since he failed so he ONLY has WHITE supremacy. This is Mike Pompeo’s efforts to help Trump by smearing a project intended to inform Americans about slavery in the U.S. https://t.co/KEhbVbKwD1

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) July 17, 2020

You might want to steer clear of the word “dark” here… https://t.co/CMEGy3N1oT

— jelani cobb (@jelani9) July 17, 2020

A huge part of whatever moral authority America used to have came from trying to fix aspects of our darker past through democracy. No wonder Pompeo has presided over the complete collapse of America’s moral standing. https://t.co/8ejFtd9xBj

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) July 17, 2020

I guess they’ve decided to turn the white nationalism up to 11 https://t.co/3IYM2RsDeo

— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) July 17, 2020

Imagine being the top diplomat in this country at this particular time, with everything that is currently going on in the world, and talking publicly about a year old NYT project. https://t.co/RlQi9rh71g

— Emily Tamkin (@emilyctamkin) July 17, 2020

In speech news today:

– The Secretary of State is attacking the New York Times

– The Attorney General is attacking Disney

– The President is ranting about dishwashers

Priorities, priorities.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 death toll in the U.S. is fast approaching 140,000. https://t.co/m0HlzflrOf

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 17, 2020

This is great, free promotion of @nhannahjones and her Pulitzer Prize winning #1619Project. https://t.co/DJSnyWT1aN

— Wajahat “Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic” Ali (@WajahatAli) July 17, 2020

At last, the secretary of state has revealed the nefarious conspiracy between the New York Times and the Chinese Communist Party to fool Americans into thinking the Confederacy was bad https://t.co/lutM3G52b2

Mike Pompeo - Twitter Search / Twitter

— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) July 17, 2020

I mean, the three-fifths clause was right there in the Constitution, a little humility about the founding is okay https://t.co/T4Xo5P29QG

— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) July 17, 2020

Please stop. https://t.co/IXUGLSlwpl

— The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) July 17, 2020

good lord what https://t.co/loRrvIuJPM

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) July 17, 2020

The 1619 Project is a re-examination of the history of slavery in the U.S. that was released in August 2019. Some historians have offered criticism about the project, but the effort has been widely praised, and is currently being adapted for film and TV.

NY Times Magazine editor Jake Silverstein later added a clarification to Hannah-Jones’ essay, and an editor’s note which read “A passage has been adjusted to make clear that a desire to protect slavery was among the motivations of some of the colonists who fought the Revolutionary War, not among the motivations of all of them.”

But in its clarification, Silverstein noted “We stand behind the basic point, which is that among the various motivations that drove the patriots toward independence was a concern that the British would seek or were already seeking to disrupt in various ways the entrenched system of American slavery.”

Watch Pompeo’s remarks above.

• By

Sky News host Sharri Markson says former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been invited by the Prime Minister’s Office to visit Australia for the Liberal Party National convention in August later this year. Ms Markson also spoke of some “big news” about former US President Donald Trump’s future plans. She said Donald Trump has kept his options open about making another push in the 2024 presidential election.However, Ms Markson said despite Donald Trump doing “very well” last November, it appears he “is now not planning on running for President in the 2024 election”. “Sources close to the President have told me he wants to be seen as a father-figure of the Republican Party.“They say the Trump movement is here to stay but that Trump is not planning to run for President. “Instead, he's in talks about supporting former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo,” Ms Markson said. 'Pompeo hasn't confirmed he'll run and has kept his cards close when asked about his political ambitions in the media'. She said Mr Pompeo has a “very strong record as Secretary of State in foreign policy, in Iran and China in particular'. “His relationship with Scott Morrison is rock solid, the pair are very close.”

Sky News host Sharri Markson says former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been invited by the Prime Minister’s Office to visit Australia for the Liberal Party National convention in August later this year.

Ms Markson also spoke of some “big news” about former US President Donald Trump’s future plans.

She said Donald Trump has kept his options open about making another push in the 2024 presidential election.

However, Ms Markson said despite Donald Trump doing “very well” last November, it appears he “is now not planning on running for President in the 2024 election”.

“Sources close to the President have told me he wants to be seen as a father-figure of the Republican Party.

“They say the Trump movement is here to stay but that Trump is not planning to run for President.

“Instead, he’s in talks about supporting former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo,” Ms Markson said.

“Pompeo hasn’t confirmed he’ll run and has kept his cards close when asked about his political ambitions in the media”.

She said Mr Pompeo has a “very strong record as Secretary of State in foreign policy, in Iran and China in particular”.

Mike Pompeo Twitter Reddit

“His relationship with Scott Morrison is rock solid, the pair are very close.”

Mike Pompeo Twitter Myanmar