US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has become the butt of online trolls’ jokes after congratulating his followers with the International Day of Democracy.
“We stand beside all people fighting for Democracy and their unalienable Human Rights. Today, and every day,” Pompeo wrote on Sunday, accompanying his post with a link to his official press statement, in which he promised that the United States would “continue to be a leader in protecting civic space to bolster the foundations of democracy.”
The tweet was immediately picked up by critics of Washington’s decades-long interventionist foreign policy, who attempted to give the secretary of state a brief lesson on how Washington has ‘exported democracy’ by force in recent years.
Others accused Pompeo of being a “hypocrite” amid the US policy of turning a blind eye to alleged anti-democratic practices among some of its close allies.
Some users criticised the Trump administration’s policy at home, hinting that the United States needs to take care of its domestic problems before lecturing other countries.
Others supported Pompeo’s sentiment, although some suggested that his words would remain “all rhetoric” until countries with systems the US doesn’t consider democratic became “free!”
Finally, a few users addressed their comments to President Trump, urging him to get rid of Pompeo, just like he got rid of hawkish Secretary of State John Bolton last week, and suggesting that his administration needs to “drain the swamp of war mongers.”