Ukraine is not Bangladesh : US Secretary of State Pompeo on NPR reporter

File photo of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Reuters file photo

In a statement yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused an NPR host and veteran reporter of lying, being an example of the “unhinged” media, and misidentifying Bangladesh as Ukraine on a map, the Business Insider reports.

The issue has also blown up on Twitter and hundreds have so far tweeted with the hashtag #BangladeshIsNotUkraine.

On Friday, NPR’s “All Things Considered” host Mary Louise Kelly interviewed Pompeo, and asked him questions about the United States’ support for Ukraine and the ouster of former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, both of which are currently at the centre of the ongoing impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

The report adds that after the interview, Kelly said Pompeo yelled at her for asking the questions on Ukraine, cursed her out, and asked her if she could find Ukraine on a map.

Pompeo did not dispute her account of the conversation, except to say she had agreed to keep it off the record, the USA Today reports, adding Kelly said on Friday that Pompeo and his aides had never asked for the conversation to be off the record.

In Saturday’s statement, Pompeo once again questioned the media’s intentions, saying, “It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency. This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this administration.”