Pompeo rejects ‘good cop, bad cop’ characterization of Russia strategy

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday rejected an assessment from NBC’s Chuck Todd that Pompeo plays “bad cop” against Russia while President Trump plays “good cop.”

“It seems like it’s a good cop, bad cop. You’re being bad cop. … And the president’s been trying to play good cop,” Todd said on “Meet the Press.” “Is that not working?” 

{mosads}”I don’t think that’s the situation at all. I think the predicate of your question is just — just, just wrong,” Pompeo responded. “I think we’re all trying to be cops that are protecting America and I think we’ve actually achieved that, Chuck. I do believe America’s fundamentally safer today than it was when President Trump took office, for a host of reasons.”

Pompeo also said during the interview that the United States would hold the responsible party accountable if chemical weapons are used in Syria, pushing back against the idea that the U.S. would be hesitant to respond if Russia were behind an attack.

Pompeo noted that the U.S. placed sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s use of a nerve agent in Britain against an ex-Russian spy. In doing so, the U.S. joined Britain and other European allies in blaming Moscow for the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

“The president is deadly serious to make sure that chemical weapons don’t become the norm in the way nations act around the world,” Pompeo said Sunday.