Pompeo Says He’s ‘Reminding’ World Leaders Congratulating Biden That ‘All The Votes Haven’t Been Counted’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the growing list of world leaders who have reached out to Joe Biden to congratulate him on winning the presidency, as sitting President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Pompeo what he says to leaders, ranging from French President Emmanuel Macron to Saudi Arabian King Salman, who have called Biden or issued statements congratulating him.

“I’ll actually be in Paris Monday. I’m headed to Saudi Arabia after that,” Pompeo said. “There’s still an awful lot of work to do. We are reminding everyone that all the votes haven’t been counted. We need to make sure the legal process is fully complied with and then America will do what it does best. We will have a leader in the White House at noon on January 20th and we will continue to execute American foreign policy.”

Pompeo sparked shock on Tuesday when he declared at a State Department press conference that there will be a peaceful transition of power to a second Trump term. The president has refused to concede, and has spread conspiracy theories and outright falsehoods about the election in order to support his baseless claim that the presidency is being stolen.

Thanks to Biden’s sizable lead in key states, major news outlets projected on Saturday that he would be the next president of the United States. The Democrat has already mounted a transition, but it is receiving little in the way of cooperation from the Trump administration.

“We’ll have a smooth transition and we’ll see what people ultimately decided when the votes have been cast,” Pompeo said, though he declined to comment on his controversial statement from earlier in the day.

When asked by Baier if it is improper for world leaders to be reaching out to Biden when the sitting president is refusing to concede, Pompeo said there’s nothing wrong with world leaders calling Biden “if they are just saying ‘Hi.'”

Watch above, via Fox News.

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com