US diplomats around the world say Pompeo is leaving them in the dark as they face tough questions from foreign countries on the George Floyd protests
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Bill Bostock
Jun 10, 2020, 16:18 IST
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seen at the State Department in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2020.Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS
US diplomats have looked to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to brief them on the George Floyd protests, but are not hearing back.
Diplomats and staffers told CNN and Politico they are left to field tough questions from foreign officials without direction from Pompeo.
Pompeo expressed condolences to Floyd's family on Fox News on May 31, but has since proffered no statements or directives about the US' position.
Pompeo, an official told Politico, "has decided to delegate leadership on this to lower levels. And that speaks volumes."
A State Department official who spoke with CNN said Pompeo's silence was likely caused by a fear of upsetting President Donald Trump.
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US diplomats and State Department officials say they are being left high and dry by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is reluctant to address the protests sweeping the country.
Pompeo has not addressed his 75,000 staff or briefed diplomats in the US and abroad, leaving them to parry probing questions from foreign counterparts, according to CNN and Politico.
One US diplomat told CNN that "his silence is deafening," while another said: "Not hearing from him makes this a very awkward time."
"It would be really nice to hear from the secretary," a third diplomat told CNN.
Those working in Washington, DC, are also concerned. "It's hard to understand why he didn't so much as send an email," a state department official told Politico.
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Pompeo, the official told Politico, "has decided to delegate leadership on this to lower levels. And that speaks volumes."
More than 100 Black state department staffers recently held a Zoom call in which they expressed their sadness at Pompeo's reticence to speak out, and the department's lack of diversity, CNN reported.
Only three of the US' 189 ambassadors are Black.
In lieu of a clear directive from Pompeo, the State Department has sent out a list of basic talking points on the protests for embassies, Politico said.
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The talking points appear to denounce Floyd's killing but also play down accusations of violence by police officers at protests.
"Though these challenges are difficult to address, the United States and free and open societies around the world are strengthened through the debates produced through our citizens exercising their right to free speech and held accountable through freedom of the press and rule of law," said one of those points, according to Politico.
Pompeo has also accused China of using the Floyd protests as "obscene propaganda" to "to justify its authoritarian denial of basic human dignity."
But that is about as far as the Secretary of State has gone in addressing the protests.
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In an appearance on Fox News on May 31, Pompeo did offer his "personal condolences to Mr. Floyd's family and all the people too who have been impacted by this rioting and this violence."
State Department officials who spoke with CNN said Pompeo's silence was likely caused by a fear of upsetting President Donald Trump.
"There is an unwillingness because of the way the president is treating it," one diplomat told CNN. "It makes it poisonous for people to try to take him on, or to even try and address it."
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