Mike Pompeo, the last secretary of state under former President Donald Trump, signaled he was critical of the Biden administration's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in an interview on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Pompeo, also a former director of the CIA, told Newsmax's Sean Spicer that the Biden administration should put President Vladimir Putin's ''continued rule of Russia at risk by crushing his economy.''
The former secretary added that regaining respect is difficult but can be taken back through ''actual actions'' and not just talk.
''I remember when the Iranians began to feel that they had some space to move. When ... deterrence began to slip just a little bit. We struck a target. ... We took out Qassim Soleimani,'' Pompeo explained.
''Not only did the Iranians notice ... [North Korean] Chairman Kim [Jong-un] noticed, [Chinese President] Xi Jinping noticed, this was the whole world saying, 'America is strong and capable, and we need to respect them.'''
Pompeo also commented on the risk of a cyberattack from Russia, saying that it is a ''significant risk'' but that advances in U.S. cybersecurity have made it less of a threat than ''eight or 10 years ago.''
''We've gotten better at ... hardening our electrical systems, our financial systems, all the sewer systems, and our local utilities — we're in a better place. But the offense is even more powerful today as well,'' Pompeo told Spicer.
''It's a serious threat [that] we need to protect with redundancy and defense,'' he emphasized. ''But the most important thing one can do is convince the bad guys that it is not worth the candle. That we will respond with significant costs on them if they should do something so bold as to open a dam or shut down an electrical grid.''
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