Mitch McConnell wants Pompeo to run for Senate. They’ll share a stage next week
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will share a stage next week with the man who has led the effort to recruit him to run for U.S. Senate in 2020.
Pompeo revealed Tuesday that he will travel to Kentucky next week for a speech at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center, a political institute co-founded by and named for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“I’ll share some thoughts on what the Trump administration is continuing to do here in the western hemisphere to protect the American people,” Pompeo said about the event, which will precede diplomatic trips to the United Kingdom, Morocco and Portugal.
McConnell, R-Kentucky, has been outspoken about his desire for Pompeo, a former Wichita congressman, to enter the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas.
Asked about the significance of the event, Pompeo told reporters to have a wonderful Thanksgiving as he exited a news conference.
Speculation about his political future intensified last week after President Donald Trump floated the idea that Pompeo would run for the Senate if Republicans were in danger of losing the Kansas seat.
He will be the seventh secretary of state to address the center since 1993 and the second member of Trump’s cabinet since October, when Secretary of Defense Mark Esper spoke, according to the center’s website.
“We have a Distinguished Speaker’s Series and have hosted past Secretaries of State including Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell. Any potential visit by the current Secretary would just follow in that line and be part of that series,” Gary Gregg, the center’s director, said in an email.
The speech will take place Monday, according to an announcement from the university.
McConnell has figured prominently in past center events, typically introducing the speaker and leading a question and answer session after the remarks. Last year, he traded barbs with his Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after the New York Democrat suggested that Brooklyn produces bourbon on par with Kentucky.
Gregg said in an email that McConnell will probably conduct a Q and A with Pompeo as he has done with past speakers.
Pompeo has made multiple trips to Kansas universities this year, addressing Kansas State University in September and appearing with Ivanka Trump at Wichita State University Tech last month. An anonymous donor paid $10,000 to to cover the bulk of the cost of the visit to WSU Tech, Wichita State’s student newspaper The Sunflower revealed last week.
The trip to Kentucky comes as Pompeo and other members of the Trump administration are scrutiny regarding the president’s alleged efforts to compel Ukraine to investigate Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden’s son in order to receive military aid.
A reporter asked Pompeo whether he’d consider testifying to Congress after Trump suggested on Twitter that he’d love for him and other top administration officials to do so.
“When the time is right, all good things happen,” Pompeo replied.
McClatchy’s Emma Dumain contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Mitch McConnell wants Pompeo to run for Senate. They’ll share a stage next week."
