Mike Pompeo says Joe Biden is ‘woke, weak and waffling’, hinting at 2024 run

Former US secretary of state uses New Hampshire visit to lay groundwork for possible presidential run

Mike Pompeo says US President Joe Biden is too weak to lead, and that ‘America deserves better’

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Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo acknowledged his appearance in New Hampshire was suggestive of a pending campaign. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:21pm, 21 Sep 2022

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo teased but did not announce a run at the White House in 2024 during a speakers series event in New Hampshire that’s known for hosting presidential hopefuls.

“Thanks for having an unemployed former diplomat out today,” Pompeo said on Tuesday in Manchester. “Today I get a chance to speak from the heart.”

For two decades, almost every candidate to take a primary debate stage in the months before a presidential election has made a trip to New Hampshire’s Queen City for an appearance at St Anselm College’s Politics & Eggs speaker series.

Pompeo used his visit this week to lay the groundwork for a run at the nation’s top job, channelling both former president Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King Jnr during his speech, and taking specific aim at a recent speech by President Joe Biden.

“I’m here because a few weeks ago the president of the United States gave a speech and smeared half the country as enemies of the state,” he said.

“He essentially said if you’re pro-life or you oppose his policies, you’re a threat. I’m here because I’m not going to let that just slide by. I’m going to stand up for the Americans that the president attacked. Because America deserves better than that.”