A clip from this 7 minute Q&A between Mike Pompeo and Nancy Amons–a reporter from a local news station in Nashville–made the national news late last week.
In that clip Pompeo refuses to answer Amons’ queries about a possible meeting he may have had with Rudy Giuliani during a foreign trip to Poland. His non-answers come near the end of the interview. But what happens before is ponderable as well. Pompeo doesn’t lose his cool as the reporter gently presses him, but it’s instructive to see how quickly be begins condescending to the “M’am” who dares to expect real talk. Pompeo’s slow burn amounts to a little lesson in mannish clampdown. No wonder he’s one of the few cabinet officials who’s established a rapport with the Don.