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State Department tries to celebrate World Refugee Day, gets wrecked online

"Mike Pompeo wins the Gaslighting award of the month for most ironic use of World Refugee Day"

 

Andrew Wyrich

Tech

Posted on Jun 20, 2018   Updated on May 21, 2021, 1:03 pm CDT

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement on Wednesday commemorating World Refugee Day, a move that was widely mocked as the Trump administration’s policy of separating undocumented children from their families has been criticized.

In the statement Pompeo highlighted the “strength, courage, and resilience of millions of refugees worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to persecution and conflict.”

The secretary of state also said the United States would “continue to help the world’s most vulnerable refugees, reflecting the deeply held values of the American people.”

“The United States will continue to be a world leader in providing humanitarian assistance and working to forge political solutions to the underlying conflicts that drive displacement,” he wrote.

In the past several weeks, a growing voice of criticism has been levied against the Trump administration for their policy of separating children from their families at detention centers along the country’s southern border.

With tensions high surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration policy, Pompeo’s remarks were mocked on Tuesday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/BridgetCallahan/status/1009444807037669376

While it is important to recognize the difficulties facing refugees across the country, the timing could not have been worse for Pompeo’s statement.

It’s not the first time this week the State Department came across as tone-deaf, as a live chat on Family Travel Hacks! was skewered.

Similarly, the White House’s attempt to praise Juneteenth Day was widely panned.

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*First Published: Jun 20, 2018, 11:37 am CDT