Evangelical Pastor Pushed Pompeo to Fire Yovanovitch for LGBT Support

In the summer of 2018, an American evangelical pastor and 39 conservative Ukrainian Christian groups demanded that Marie Yovanovitch be fired from her job as the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv for supporting LGBTQ rights and undermining President Trump’s “conservative policy for the USA and its foreign policy,” BuzzFeed News reported. The group reportedly sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying: “We, the public and religious organizations of Ukraine, demand the Congress and the U.S. authorities to recall the U.S. Ambassador and give the appropriate assessment of her actions that openly discredit President Trump.” Armstrong told BuzzFeed that he was later relayed a message from Pompeo that said Yovanovitch would be “retiring” next year, in 2019. Armstrong said he “rejoiced” when Yovanovitch was recalled from her post in May 2019 but thought his efforts had “zero” impact on her ouster. He said that his campaign was not in coordination with Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who led efforts to force Yovanovitch out.

Armstrong reportedly spent years preaching about conservative values in Ukraine and in the U.S. State Department. Yovanovitch and more than 60 officials from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv marched with Ukrainian LGBTQ groups and supporters in the country’s annual pride march in 2018, which prompted Armstrong to attack her on Twitter.