Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Friday said he would not run in next year’s US presidential election, which would have pitted him against former US president Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
Pompeo, 59, said he decided with his wife that he would not be a candidate for the office due to personal reasons.
“The time is not right for me and my family,” Pompeo said in a statement. “This is not that time or that moment for me to seek elected office again.”
Photo: REUTERS
A former US representative, Pompeo developed a reputation as one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants when he served in his administration as secretary of state and CIA director.
He advanced Trump’s pugnacious foreign policy as the top US diplomat and was a magnet for controversy in Washington.
Pompeo also initially backed Trump’s false claims of a stolen presidential election following his defeat in 2020, although Pompeo eventually cooperated with the then-incoming administration of US President Joe Biden.
In the past few months, he has indirectly criticized Trump, saying Republicans need leaders who do not dwell on the past.
Biden on Friday said he has decided to run for a second term in 2024 and would announce his campaign “relatively soon.”
With Pompeo out, former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley is the lone Trump administration official to announce that she would challenge the former president.
Among other possible Republican primary candidates are US Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US vice president Mike Pence.
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