Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Joins NEw Group Of Standing For Freedom Center Fellows

Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center announced a new group of fellows two weeks after launching its rebrand, naming former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo among the lineup of prominent conservative voices. 

As the Freedom Center continues to expand, Executive Director Ryan Helfenbein said each of the fellows alongside Pompeo embody the principles of faith, freedom and strive to engage culture with gospel-centered truth. 

As a senior fellow for the Freedom Center, Pompeo will work with the center to write content and create videos centering around the think-tank’s faith-based mission.

“I’m proud to have these faithful world-changers on board with us and am excited to see our center grow with them,” Helfenbien said.

Pompeo, who served under the Trump administration, was not shy about bringing his Christian beliefs to the realm of international politics as he represented the U.S. in diplomacy.

“I was America’s Secretary of State, and my oath was to defend the United States Constitution, people of all faiths, but I also looked at everything from a Christian viewpoint, because that’s who I am,” Pompeo said. “That’s my grounding. It’s my center point, and it impacted every single decision that I made.”

Throughout his time in the U.S. State Department, Pompeo focused intently on issues related to religious liberties, putting into action these principles with American diplomacy. Most notably, Pompeo spoke out about the religious liberty infractions occurring across China. Under the rule of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, Pompeo noted the wrongful treatment shown to Mongolians, Tibetans and Uighur Muslims within China, calling  the communist party’s actions
horrific. 

“The Chinese people are good people and they want to raise their families and live their lives, but the Communist Party and their leadership are not good,” Pompeo said.

During Liberty University’s Equity for Africa Summit earlier this month, Pompeo spoke about the threat he believes China will be if the U.S. does not stand up to communism. In his keynote speech and panel with Business School Dean Dave Brat, Pompeo outlined the risks the U.S. and other ally countries run when a strong defense against China is not played. 

While speaking at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Pompeo issued a similar stance, speaking on his efforts to apply Trump’s “America First” policies within international diplomacy. Pompeo analyzed the current diplomacy under the Biden administration saying they were moving back to the foreign policy under the Obama administration.

“They will give away all the security (with China) and all the things we built an exchange for a little bit of trading and a little bit of money,” Pompeo said.  

If the U.S. is in decline, according to Pompeo, the nation’s friends across the world will not want to work with a weak nation, pushing them closer to China. Pompeo hopes the strong stance against China and policies put in place will remain in place under the new administration, noting the need for these issues to remain nonpartisan.

“It isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue, but is about understanding the fundamentals of who we are as a country,” Pompeo said. “China is working on every front  to undermine that.”

While traveling across the world to meet with various international leaders, Pompeo said his Christian faith laid the foundation in everything he did, especially while interacting with people from various faith backgrounds.

“Most people who see your faith will say that is a person who has principles and faith, and they will admire you for that, whether they are Christian or not,” Pompeo said. 

Pompeo began his time in government representing Kansas’ fourth congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017. Leading up to his inauguration, President Trump appointed Pompeo to Director of the CIA before assigning him the role of Secretary of State in 2018.

Hattie Troutman is the Editor-in-Chief. Follow her on Twitter at @hattrout.