Pompeo: Multiculturalism Is Anti-American

Outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made headlines for two pronouncements on Tuesday, one about foreign policy and the other about American values:

• China: Pompeo lashed out anew at China on Tuesday by declaring that its policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang region constitute "crimes against humanity" and a "genocide." The rarely used designation is sure to provoke an angry response from Beijing, per the AP. China has imprisoned more than 1 million people, including Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, in a vast network of concentration camps, according to US officials and human rights groups. People have been subjected to torture, sterilization, and political indoctrination in addition to forced labor.

• Multiculturalism: Pompeo also tweeted some general thoughts, and one in particular drew lots of attention. "Wokeism, multiculturalism, all the -isms—they’re not who America is," Pompeo wrote. "They distort our glorious founding and what this country is all about. Our enemies stoke these divisions because they know they make us weaker." The New York Times reports that the line about multiculturalism angered US diplomats who say it contradicts the notion of America as a melting pot. Plus, critics say the Trump administration has promoted too many white men. And then there's the fact that the US is about to get a Black, female vice president. "Talk about not reading the room," says Lewis Lukens, former deputy ambassador in London.

(More Mike Pompeo stories.)