Last Updated on December 27, 2021
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed during a Fox News interview on Sunday that Chinese president Xi Jinping is “holding over a million Americans in concentration camps.”
During an appearance on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures, Pompeo said, “No, I would have recommended to the President were I Secretary of State today that we not send our athletes into this terribly difficult place, where they’re gonna be forced to be silent, to not speak as Americans.”
“Or Xi Jinping will be put on stage or lauded as a great leader while he’s holding over a million Americans in concentration camps,” Pompeo continued.
“I don’t think we should be participating, i don’t think the IOC, the Olympic Committee should have allowed Xi jinping to host these games,” Pompeo said of the planned 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
Viewers were quick to pick up on the strange and clearly untrue allegation.
https://twitter.com/dbglisson/status/1475130977588584450
@mikepompeo claims Xi Jinping is holding 1 million Americans in concentration camps.
I wish! 🤣🤣🤣https://t.co/Uq9XQvxOfw pic.twitter.com/um4quFd1hK— UKRAINIAN WALK RHYMES (@Theo_Fletcher_1) December 26, 2021
Some defenders of Pompeo posited that the former CIA and State Departments official had confused “Americans” with “Uyghurs,” though they did not explain how someone could have made the phonetic misstep between two dissimilar words.
A poll taken in 2021 found that Pompeo received 1% of Republican support in a field of potential 2024 presidential candidates, as previously reported by National File.
Voters were asked “Thinking ahead, if the 2024 Republican Primary for President in your state were held today among the following candidates, for whom would you vote,” and were given a total of 19 choices including “Other.”
President Trump won with 70% of the vote. DeSantis came in a distant second with a mere 21% of the vote. Six more candidates tied at 1%, including Sen. Rand Paul, anti-Trump former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Ted Cruz, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
