Politics: Twitter erupts over Mike Pompeo's staggering weight loss

By dailymail.co.uk
october 21, 2021

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Secretary Mike Pompeo showed off his newly slimmed-down face on Fox News this week, prompting some to question if he was preparing himself for a run for the presidency in 2024.

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It's been another rocky week for President Joe Biden in the White House, but he took some time off to attend his nephew's wedding, and then it was back to business. Meanwhile, Ivanka and Jared boarded a jet plane to Jerusalem where they were welcomed with open arms by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Donald and Melania were memorialized in Dubai while a conversation between Barron and the former President Trump was revealed. Back in the USA, Hillary Clinton was seen leaving a California hospital where former President Bill Clinton is being treated for sepsis. There's a lot to catch up on, here's everything you might have missed in this week's First Families...
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JOE'S DAY OFF: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden spent their holiday Monday attending the wedding of their nephew Cuffe Owens and Meghan King, a former star of the reality TV show Real Housewives of Orange County, while Biden's administration faced growing controversies. The First Couple attended the small family ceremony at the home of the President's sister Valerie Owens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and then headed back to Washington, D.C., with a supply chain crisis gripping the country and his multi-trillion spending plan in limbo.
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While the Bidens only spent a short time at the intimate celebration, they put on a stylish display with Jill donning a $2,890 lemon-print Oscar de la Renta dress that she has worn several times in the past. Later that afternoon, the President didn't answer any questions from reporters when he landed back at the White House and instead headed straight inside with wife, Jill, and their granddaughter Naomi, the daughter of Hunter Biden and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle Biden.
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The wedding came just days after the President admitted to personally calling a hospital desk to see what the situation was when a friend's wife could not bee seen at a Pennsylvania hospital that was overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. Biden made the call after his friend's 'significant other' had fallen ill, with difficulty breathing and a high fever, and was rushed to the hospital, where the emergency room told her she couldn't be seen because 'things were so crowded, so backed up.' He said: 'I called the desk, received the nurse and asked what the situation was'.
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Adding fuel to the fire, Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked again about Hunter Biden's art on Tuesday after it emerged five prints had been sold for $75,000. 'We still do not know, and will not know who purchases any paintings,' she said before adding that 'the president remains proud of his son'. The White House has repeatedly said that the administration will be shielded from knowing purchasers' identities in order to prevent any perceptions of a conflict of interest. And Psaki has frequently punted questions to the gallerist selling the art. According to former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter, however, this strategy is not effective. He argues that the best way to prevent people from 'gaining leverage' over the White House by purchasing Biden's artwork is to prevent sales of the work until his father, President Joe Biden, leaves office. Painter also advocated for 'full transparency' of buyers' identities and thinks the president and his appointees should 'all sign recusal pledges to ensure these people can't get access to the White House'. He added: 'We did that in the Bush White House'.
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BARRON'S PRIVATE PLEA: Donald Trump revealed that his youngest child Barron was critical of his first 2020 presidential debate performance against Joe Biden, claiming the then-14-year-old told him he was being 'too tough,' according to an excerpt from Fox commentator Mollie Hemingway's new book. During the infamously chaotic debate, Biden and Trump took turns dismissing and speaking over each other, and their unruly and at times aggressive conduct forced debate organizers to release a statement vowing to make the next engagement 'more orderly.' Trump admitted to catching wind of some of the negative feedback – including from his teenage son. 'People thought I was too belligerent,' he said. 'I will say my own son Barron said, "Dad, you were too tough. You didn't have to keep interrupting him".'
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In other Trump kid news, Ivanka and Jared Kushner visited former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ahead of the first meeting of the Caucus for Promoting the Abraham Accords. The Knesset panel, which was put together by Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law when they served as senior presidential advisers, promotes U.S.-brokered normalization deals. 'We are very pleased to meet with our close friends Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Welcome to Jerusalem!' Netanyahu wrote in a tweet with an image of himself and his wife, Sara, with Trump and Kushner.
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Kushner, who is Jewish, thanked the people involved in promoting the normalization accords. He said 'the Middle East is changing,' and noted that a continued focus on cooperation and economic growth would make 'our dream of peace come true.' One of Donald Trump's biggest accomplishments as president, he and other Republicans have stated, is achieving peace in the Middle East by brokering a deal with Israel, the US and the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, the former president also moved recognition of the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He also moved the US embassy to the holy city.
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Meanwhile, as Ivanka met with world leaders in Jerusalem, a report by The Intercept revealed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had to intervene when Donald Trump suggested nominating his daughter for president of the World Bank. Ivanka, who is a fashion designer, was reportedly the first name the then president thought of when the post suddenly became vacant in January 2019.
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At the time, the White House denied rumors that the first daughter was in the running, with Ivanka publicly stating she was 'happy' to be advising her father. 'Mnuchin often placed himself between the president and what the Treasury secretary saw as colossally counterproductive moves. His time as a Hollywood producer – making him a representative of the set whose approval Trump craved – gave him influence that others in the administration lacked,' The Intercept claims. Ultimately, Ivanka was asked by Mnuchin and acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to help lead an internal search to help choose the new president of the institution.
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Like his daughter, former President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, also made waves in the Middle East this week as their wax statues were put on display in Dubai. The couple, who have kept a relatively low profile since he lost re-election last year, are two of the 60 celebrities and world leaders part of the Middle East's first Madame Tussauds, the tourist-friendly wax statue museum known for its celebrity likenesses.
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FLORIDA LIFE SUITS HIM: Donald Trump has lost up to 25 pounds and is much happier since leaving the White House, Jason Miller revealed in a Sunday interview. The former Trump aide attributed the better health to 'not having the kitchen there 24/7' as well as 'a little bit of golf and a whole lot of endorsement.' Presidents always have food on command out of the White House kitchen. Miller told British TV channel GB News in a Sunday interview, in which he also shared that the former president is 'tanned,' 'rested' and 'a lot happier,' based on his conversations with Trump during a recent visit to Florida.
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However, it's unclear if Melania is feeling as jubilant after her husband reportedly made an unprompted reference to allegations in the Steele dossier that he hired Russian women to pee on him in a Moscow hotel during a private GOP dinner on Thursday. He was speaking at a high-dollar retreat in Palm Beach, Florida for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a group working to elect more GOP senators to Congress. 'I'm not into golden showers,' Trump told his audience of GOP senators, donors, lobbyists and strategists. Trump then allegedly moved on to his wife, claiming she doubted the salacious claim. 'You know the great thing, our great first lady - "That one," she said, "I don't believe that one,"' he declared.
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BLUE JEAN LADY: Ivana Trump also made headlines with a bold sartorial statement on Wednesday, as she stepped out for a rare solo excursion on New York's Upper East Side. The 72-year-old ex-wife of former President Donald Trump was dressed to the nines during her city stroll, for which she donned a Western-inspired denim jumpsuit with two pockets and bold white stitching. Ivana also donned her signature beehive look and carried her favorite Dior bag for her outing.
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HILLARY VOWS TO PROTECT 'OUR DEMOCRACY': On Monday Clinton, 73, vowed to never leave politics because she feels that 'democracy is at stake.' 'I will never be out of the game of politics,' Clinton said on ABC's 'Good Morning America'. 'I'm not going to be be running for anything but I really feel like our democracy's at stake [for] many reasons... some of them we saw on the screen with the insurrection, some of them are about Facebook... I really am worried,' the former secretary of state, first lady, senator and 2016 presidential contender said.
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Clinton's remarks came ahead of her now released new book 'State of Terror,' a fictional novel about a secretary of state working for a president who is a 'political enemy' and how a series of attacks prompts an 'international chess game' to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. 'I do worry that we face a lot of really serious problems that don't get the attention they deserve,' Clinton said. 'So, as you know from this book, it's a lot of fun, it's also a really serious problem of terrorists getting access to nuclear weapons.'
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The high of Hillary's book release came with a low for the Clinton family — Former President Bill was hospitalized Thursday night with a serious infection. The 75-year-old, who had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004, was admitted to UCI Medical Center in California on Tuesday after reportedly feeling fatigued during his visit to the state. The former US President spent a fifth night in the Southern California hospital Saturday night as he recovers from sepsis following a urological infection, but is making 'excellent progress' and is expected to be discharged on Sunday, his spokesman said.
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A somber-looking Hillary, who was in California with her husband for an appearance at an event in relation to Bill's foundation, was pictured flanked by security officers as she entered the unit Thursday night before being driven away in the back of a car. She reportedly represented them both at the previously scheduled event before visiting the medical center. Hillary and the couple's daughter Chelsea visited the ex-president at the hospital again on Saturday - and Joe Biden said the former president is 'doing fine' and 'will be out soon'.
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Elsewhere in California, fire crews are desperately battling to save Ronald Reagan's former ranch from being set ablaze by the Alisal Fire in Santa Barbara County. The fire has torn through nearly 17,000 acres since it started last Monday with flames coming as close as a quarter mile of the historic property. 'I wouldn't say we're completely out of the woods yet,' Andrew Coffin, Director of the Reagan Ranch, told CNN, although the fire hasn't encroached on the estate yet. As of Friday afternoon, there is approximately 75 feet of brush clearance around the property.
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The property itself is the former vacation home of President Reagan, who frequently visited with his wife Nancy during his tenure in office. The Reagans purchased the ranch retreat in 1974 as his term as governor was ending, and it was eventually sold to the Young America’s Foundation in 1998.
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The 57-year-old former secretary of state, now nine months out of office, showed off his newly taught neck and face during an appearance on Fox News' Hannity on Tuesday.

Bucks celebrate 2021 NBA championship, then handle Nets to open title defense

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks picked up their 2021 NBA championship rings, then showed they are more than equipped to win the next one. 1/18 SLIDES © Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The Milwaukee Bucks' 2021 championship banner is unveiled during Milwaukee Bucks ring ceremony before the season opener vs. the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Pompeo asking for his secret.

The former secretary is one of a number of big-name Republicans believed to be eyeing up a potential run for the presidency.

'Mike Pompeo has lost an incredible amount of weight,' media reporter Aaron Rupar commented on Twitter.

'That’s Mike Pompeo???' another incredulous Twitter user, William Legate, commented.

'Like, even his face is structurally different… that is some very serious surgery if that’s him is all I’ll say,' Legate added.

'You’re still not gonna be president, Mike,' commented another user, Brian Tyler Cohen.

In the days since Trump has left the White House, Pompeo has worked to keep his name in the Republican party and in the headlines making frequent media appearances, joining fundraising efforts and showing signs he is rekindling his old campaign committee.

Pompeo blames missing $6,000 whisky on State Department 'incompetence'

The former Trump official broke his silence on what he called 'the great case of the missing whisky bottle' on Fox News. Pompeo said he never even received the bottle himself, but offered help finding it.The former Secretary of State broke his silence on what he called 'the great case of the missing whisky bottle' in an interview with Fox.

He has been vocal of his criticism of the new Biden administration while promoting and defending the work of the Trump administration.

In June, Pompeo launched a political group, Champion American Values PAC, aimed at electing conservative candidates, and in September, he traveled to Iowa, the first in the nation state to caucus, for the second time since leaving office.

Pompeo did not confirm or deny plans to run in an interview in July.

It's literally the case that only the Lord knows what's gonna happen,' he said on 'The Carlos Watson Show.'

'I want to continue to have an impact on the things that I care about, both here and abroad,' Pompeo said.

And in March, when asked by Hannity about his ambitions, Pompeo said: 'I’m always up for a good fight.'

Hannity responded that he didn't 'know how to interpret that' and would 'take that as a strong maybe', Pompeo laughed, adding: 'That's perfect.'

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Republicans have been left in limbo as Trump regularly teases another run in 2024, as most have said they would not mount a challenge to the former president. If Pompeo launches a bid - and Trump does not - he could be campaigning against GOP heavyweights like former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Pompeo most especially hit out against Biden during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

'At its very core, what the Biden administration fails to understand is there is a harsh reality out there, that there is evil and there is good,' he said while accepting an award at the Nixon Foundation earlier this week. 'And if you withdraw from Afghanistan without considering the ramifications and dealing with them and making sure the conditions are right, America will be diminished.'

Mike Pompeo Pushes Joe Biden to Hold China Accountable for COVID .
The former secretary of state also lamented what he perceived as the Biden administration's lack of pressure on China over Taiwan.During a segment with Sean Hannity, Pompeo commented on related topics including Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails, in which an expert appeared concerned about COVID-19's potential "engineered" origins.