Mike Pompeo is openly against LGBT+ rights. (Alex Wong/Getty)
Mike Pompeo must be living in a pre-COVID parallel universe, because he just invited 900 staff to a Christmas party as the US death toll hits 300,000.
Current coronavirus restrictions in Washington DC limit indoor gatherings to fewer than ten people, but the secretary of state seemed intent on hosting the next superspreader event with his huge indoor celebration.
Or maybe he was just trying to curry favour with his staff after his decision to address an overtly anti-LGBT+ group reportedly led to an internal protest.
Either way, it didn’t exactly go as he planned. Of the hundreds of invitees, fewer than 70 sent RSVPs and only two dozen actually showed up, according to the Washington Post.
With no one downstairs waiting for him to show up, an embarrassed Pompeo is said to have cancelled his speech and skipped the party altogether. He tapped a staffer to speak in his place.
“It was a completely irresponsible party to throw,” commented one diplomat’s wife, who said it was an “easy” decision to skip the event amid the pandemic.
With the celebration prompting an outcry from health officials, a spokesman for the state department assured guests that they planned to “fully enforce social distancing measures at this reception, and face coverings are mandatory for admittance”.
But photos from the event suggest otherwise, as the guests – mostly all Trump appointees – were seen drinking, eating and mingling closely without masks.
Sure enough, a day later the state department confirmed that Mike Pompeo was in isolation after coming into “close contact” with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.
“[Pompeo] has been tested and is negative. In accordance with CDC guidelines, he will be in quarantine,” a spokesperson said. “He is being closely monitored by the department’s medical team.”
Now there’s a plot twist we absolutely saw coming.