President Donald Trump apparently expects Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s wife to wash the dishes in the Pompeo household, he indicated at his press briefing Monday.
And when his family isn’t around, it’s apparently OK for Pompeo to use taxpayer-funded federal employees — including the Secret Service — to do his domestic chores, Trump said.
“Now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes. And you know what? I’d rather have him [Pompeo] on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn’t there or his kids aren’t there ... it’s so stupid,” Trump said.
Trump called Pompeo a “high-quality person” and a “brilliant guy,” and said he didn’t see anything wrong with the secretary of state asking a “Secret Service person or somebody” to walk his dog.
“Maybe he’s busy,” Trump said before imagining a conversation Pompeo might have with an officer: “I’m talking to Kim Jong Un ... Please walk my dog.”
Trump made the remarks about Pompeo while answering questions about firing State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.
Linick had recently opened an investigation in Pompeo’s activities, including his use of a federal worker for personal tasks and an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, according to press reports. Trump said he fired Linick because Pompeo had asked him to do so.
Twitter went bonkers over Trump’s comments, and the fact he apparently has no problem with well-paid federal employees doing menial household chores on top of their real jobs. And the president is already under fire for his demeaning treatment of female reporters, so the sexism about who should do the housework didn’t help.