Mike Pompeo campaigns for mid-term elections and refrains from presidential election

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo considers running for president as he travels across the country to support Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections. I am. 

"We are doing the kind of things one might do to prepare for the moment, at least as we see it," Pompeo said. .. "But that doesn't mean we've made a decision."

In this week's "The Takeout" podcast, Pompeo is a candidate for Major Garrett, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent. He talked about the strategy he is using for the campaign. If he chooses to do, fall will form the infrastructure for the presidential election.

"You can't do that from a standing start," he said.

Pompeo downplayed the potential impact on the race if former President Donald Trump chose to run, saying that he "makes no difference" in his own decision. Pompeo acknowledged that it would cause some discomfort to his former boss and speculated that it would also make Trump uncomfortable.

"If you think you're the right person and you have everything else, you should do it and then let the Americans organize it," he said.

But if Trump won the 2024 nomination, Pompeo said he would not only support him, but would be willing to serve his administration again if requested.

"If I think I can help the team, make a difference, and do something important to me, my family, and our country, I'm sure I won't turn down that obligation. ""

That doesn't mean Trump hasn't made a mistake, Pompeo said. He believes the former president will be "to some extent" responsible for theassault on the US Capitolon January 6, 2021.

Still, Pompeo does not believe that Trump's involvement, which was in the State Department that day, justified an attempt to drive him out of the office using the 25th Amendment. In fact, he denies that there was serious discussion between the Trump administration's cabinet officials, despite previous reports of discussing the issue with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

"I have never seriously discussed Article 25 of the Constitutional Amendment with anyone," Pompeo said. "That didn't happen."

If Pompeo thought he needed to dismiss the former president, he said, "I would have instigated the conversation."

Highlights:

• Threat of Russian aggression: "High stakes. I still have the biggest threat to the country. Is not from Vladimir Putin, but from the Chinese Communist Party. The bet is very realistic. The first view is that there is this coalition between the huge Chinese Communist Party and Russia, which I was a young soldier at the time. The Soviet Union did to us when we were patrolling the East German border. It is also true that the United States has greatly benefited from the stability of the world, the stability of Europe, the stability of the Middle East and the stability. It benefits from property rights and contracts, and the fact that well-meaning people trade with each other and work on security together, which helps people in Iowa, New Hampshire and Kansas throughout the United States. What is it? "
• Whether he supports the bipartisan gun reform bill:" Support. Very unlikely. There are basic rights that all Americans have. I think it's a contradiction, and I can't support this. There's a lot you can do to keep everyone safe. Depriving me of the right to own a firearm is one of them. Seems not. And it looks like it's evolving .. I admit the general language itself, but you can make the language I think there, sure Well, it doesn't hurt Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendment, but as they proceed, it seems more and more. I see, I don't think it makes sense. "
• Right to aggression:"I deeply believe that Roe has deprived the political process of the ability to discuss the views deeply held in the age of so many Americans. I take this view. Hold strong. I believe in the right of every child to be born with my heart. I believe it thanks to science, and I believe it thanks to my faith. , Roe is a process that we think our founders liked, which robbed us of the ability to make that claim and discuss this. So, in fact, if Roe overthrows in a week or so, that's this. I think I'll bring it back to the state. There's a fierce debate. I hope it's within the scope of the debate and reason. vinegar. And I hope every state chooses to protect the fetus in every possible way. I grew up in Southern California. My member was Bob Dornan. You will remember Parliamentarian Dornan, who nominated me for the US Army Military School. The location is very different today. I'm not, that part doesn't bother me. I am very different politically. I don't care about that part. The fact that we have different choices, states that make different priorities. As you know, we are happy to talk about democracy laboratories. The truth is that it allows people to make their own choices and to govern at the lowest level. I wish I could make more decisions at the state and local levels than in Washington, D.C. Sign up for me to reduce the uniformity of many regulations and tax affairs. I think America is healthier.

Executive Producer: Arden Farhi

Producers: Jamie Benson, Jacob Rosen, Sara Cook, Eleanor Watson

CBSN Produced by: Eric Soussanin 
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