Internet Critics Can't Recognize Ex-Trump Aide After Drastic Weight Loss: 'Half the Man He Used to Be'

During his speech at the RNC on Thursday, Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state for Donald Trump, shocked internet users with his unfamiliar appearance. Some internet users alleged that they did not recognize him at all. But most of them remarked on how much weight he lost and wondered whether he, like many other celebrities, was also on Ozempic, as per Raw Story. One user tweeted, "Mike Pompeo may be solely responsible for the shortage in Ozempic." 

Another critic added, "OMG MIKE POMPEO LOST SO MUCH WEIGHT THAT OZEMPIC REALLY DO BE WORKING HOLY SHIT I DIDNT RECOGNIZE HIM." Also, one more critic called him completely 'unrecognizable' and added, "How is Mike Pompeo not the face of an Ozempic advertising campaign??? Completely unrecognizable!"

Another online reviewer commented in a sarcastic tone, "Pretty sure it was an Ozempic filled Mike Pompeo, doesn't even look the same." In a similar vein, someone commented, "How much Ozempic did Mike Pompeo take?! That’s crazy." A different X user quipped, "Mike Pompeo must be taking ozempic... Stealing the peoples medicine." 

In 2022, Pompeo came clean about his incredible 90-pound weight loss in only six months. According to an interview Pompeo gave to The New York Post, he reached a turning point in June 2021 when he saw his weight, for the first time, creeping close to 300 lbs. The next morning, he informed his wife, Susan, "Today is the day." He had finally come to terms with the fact that he needed to do something. Following this, the ex-White House staffer installed equipment and weights in his basement to serve as a home gym.

He told The Post, "I started exercising, not every day, but nearly every day, and eating right and the weight just started to come off. I tried to get down there five, six times a week and stay at it for a half-hour or so. And that was nothing scientific. There was no trainer, there was no dietician. It was just me." While in office, Pompeo reportedly started to put on weight due to his penchant for fast food on days when he had a lot of travel or work to do.

Pompeo went on to explain his typical routine, "You can ask anybody on my team, they knew exactly what I was going to do: cheeseburger from room service. I went back to the room and kept working, and ate my cheeseburger. That was my pattern of life. When you work and eat, you just keep working and you just keep eating."

Following this, he detailed his present schedule and included, "For our family, food is where we gather. We are Italian and we like to get together around a good meal of pasta and bread and cheeses and dessert. We are still going to enjoy these big meals with family and friends except I am going to be the guy that says, 'Yeah, I'll have a salad.'"