LYNCHBURG, Va. — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver the commencement address at Liberty University in May. University president Jerry Falwell made the announcement on Monday.
“We are grateful to Secretary Pompeo for accepting our invitation to be the keynote speaker,” Falwell said. “Secretary Pompeo is a man who leads our nation with excellence and with a passion for protecting our citizens at home and abroad. He proudly defends the freedoms upon which our country was founded, and he understands and fully supports the faith community and our mission here at Liberty. We have been privileged to welcome many of our nation’s greatest leaders to Liberty’s stage, and we are looking forward to hearing from another as Secretary Pompeo inspires our graduates to make their own marks on the world as Champions for Christ.”
Commencement exercises are scheduled for May 9.
Pompeo made headlines last week after he lashed out in anger at an NPR reporter who accused him of shouting expletives at her after she had asked him in an interview about Ukraine.
America’s chief diplomat has directed a personal attack against journalist Mary Louise Kelly.
He claims she “lied” to him and he called her conduct “shameful.”
NPR said it stands by her reporting.
In Friday’s interview, Pompeo responded testily when Kelly asked him about Ukraine and specifically the U.S. ambassador whose ouster figured in President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
After the interview, Kelly said she was taken to Pompeo’s private living room, where he shouted at her and cursed.
