Columbia Standard

Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is still hobnobbing with Conservatives, and will give a keynote address during a GOP event in Columbia later this month.

Pompeo, widely seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said earlier this week that he's looking forward to the Silver Elephant Dinner on July 30.

Now former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, with now former Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the Trump presidency | twitter.com/mikepompeo/

"I always enjoy being with fellow conservatives, and I’m looking forward to speaking at this year’s Silver Elephant Dinner. @SCGOP.” Pompeo wrote in a July 6 Twitter post.

That Pompeo is looking forward to the annual dinner that has attracted the likes of then California Governor and later President Ronald Reagan, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is no surprise, South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick told the Associated Press.

"He's looking forward to coming down to South Carolina, being able to deliver some red meat and speak his mind — without having to worry about being a diplomat," McKissick said in a July 6 AP news story. "He delivers substance."

The Silver Elephant Dinner, an annual fundraiser that began in 1967, is more than just a good meal. South Carolina holds the first presidential primary in the Southeast region, and potential White House hopefuls of both major parties make the rounds in the state.

Pompeo has not said he is running for any office, but he also hasn't said he won't.

"Only the Lord knows where I will be in 2023," Pompeo told the AP last month during an interview about a political action committee he formed.

As with almost everyone else in the administration during President Donald Trump's time in office, Pompeo had his share of controversy with scandals that included politicking while on official business, including visits to well-heeled Conservative donors. That prompted a Kansas City Star op-ed to quip "Mike Pompeo, either quit and run for U.S. Senate in Kansas or focus on your day job."

Pompeo's unfailing support of Trump, back peddling on a variety of topics and campaigning while on this job reeked of "hypocrisy," Wired reported.

Since Trump's failed re-election bid and his subsequent attempts to stay in power anyway, Pompeo has been touring other states that have with early presidential primaries and caucuses, including Iowa and New Hampshire, which only adds to speculations about his political future.

Pompeo told the AP in its July 6 story that he is working to get "great conservatives" such as another potential 2024 presidential candidate, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, and Gov. Henry McMaster re-elected next year.

"Now more than ever, it’s important to defend American values and stand up to the radical left," Pompeo told the AP.