Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served as the director of the CIA in former US President Donald Trump’s administration said on Friday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for US President in 2024, as reported by the news agency Reuters. If he would have sought the nomination he would have been pitted against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
Citing personal reasons, Pompeo said that he and his wife have decided that he would not be a candidate for the top post. "The time is not right for my family and me," Pompeo said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters. "This is not that time or that moment for me to seek elected office again."
"This nation has given me more than I deserve - unimaginable opportunities. My duty to return that blessing to others remains and with His help, I will fulfil that obligation," Pompeo announced in his statement which he also posted on Twitter.
The Hill quoted Pompeo, who said finding a way to compete against former US President Donald Trump and other Republicans, typically when Trump is leading by wide margins in most polls did not factor into his decision.
"It is simplest, and most accurate, to say that this decision is personal. The time is not right for me and my family. At each stage of my public service - as a soldier, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and then as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and as your Secretary of State - I've been blessed to have the opportunity to advance America in a way that fits the time and the moment. This is not that time or that moment for me to seek elected office again," the statement of former CIA Chief Mike Pompeo read.
Pompeo continued by saying that he has been humbled by those who have approached him and said they were praying for him to run, as well as by people who have told him, "You'd be foolish to run," he said. He also left open the possibility of one day running for president, according to The Hill.
Pompeo, who is a former Kansas congressman, was known as one of Trump's most loyal lieutenants. He advanced the former US president’s pugnacious foreign policy as the top U.S. diplomat and was a magnet for controversy in Washington, Reuters reported. He also initially supported Trump's false claims of a stolen presidential election after his defeat in 2020 against Joe Biden.
Recently Pompeo has been seen indirectly criticising Trump, saying Republicans need leaders who do not dwell on the past, Reuters reported. US President Joe Biden on Friday said that he has decided to run for a second term in 2024 and he will announce his campaign "relatively soon."