A security entourage at CPAC bulldozed NBC News reporter Vaughn Hillyard out of the way as he grilled former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pompeo spoke Friday morning at this year’s Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC), but the real action occurred off-stage as Pompeo strode through the convention’s venue surrounded by aides and security personnel.

Bravely doing the old “walk and talk,” Hillyard confronted Pompeo with the fact that his recent words of praise for Putin are being played on Russian state television to support the invasion of Ukraine.

But as Hillyard questioned Pompeo, the security entourage repeatedly used physical force to direct the reporter away from Pompeo:

HILLYARD: Russian state, Russian state media has played your own words fro this week, in which you called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s shrewd, capable, you’ve said you have enormous respect. Do you regret your words?

POMPEO: Been fighting communism since I was a teenager. I’m going to keep fighting communism.

HILLYARD: Do you regret your words about Putin this week, though?

POMPEO: I have worked my entire life to make sure that the United States was free of communist dictatorships. I understand my enemy, I’ll always call an enemy for what he is. We need to make sure that we continue to (inaudible) the Russians. They’re now destroying people’slives in Kyiv…

HILLYARD: Why, why, why, why speak words that come off as soft praise for Vladimir Putin?

(to security personnel) Hey, hey! Hands off! Hands off!

(to Pompeo) Secretary? Do you wish that those in the Republican Party…

Hillyard posted video of the encounter on Twitter.

From CPAC—>

NBC: Russian state media has played your own words…[calling] Putin shrewd, capable & you said you have enormous respect. Do you regret your words?

Pompeo: I’ve been fighting communism since I was a teenager. I’m going to keep fighting communism. pic.twitter.com/sPJGoKCd72

— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) February 25, 2022

Watch above via Vaughn Hillyard.

The post ‘HEY! HEY! Hands Off!’ CPAC Security Entourage Bulldozes NBC Reporter As He Confronts Mike Pompeo About ‘Praise’ for Putin first appeared on Mediaite.

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