_Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weighed in on British politics during a closed-door meeting with Jewish leaders, saying he would not wait for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to become prime minister of Britain to push back against him or any future actions he might take against Britains Jews.

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Pompeo also criticized Britains Conservative Party leaders, saying the heavy losses they suffered during the European Parliament elections demonstrated an absolute failure of leadership.

The remarks, which are contained in audio of aprivate meetingleaked to The Washington Post, make Pompeo the second senior U.S. official to comment on Britains turbulent leadership succession in the past week.

During his meeting with Jewish leaders in New York, Pompeo was asked if Corbyn is elected, would you be willing to work with us to take on actions if life becomes very difficult for Jews in the U.K.?

In response, Pompeo said, It could be that Mr. Corbyn manages to run the gantlet and get elected. Its possible. You should know, we wont wait for him to do those things to begin to push back. We will do our level best, he said to fervent applause from attendees.

Its too risky and too important and too hard once its already happened, he said.

Corbyn has beencriticizedfor being slow to address allegations of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. In February, nine Labour members of Parliament quit the party, with some citing the leaderships failure in handling anti-Semitism issues.

Last month, Britains watchdog Equality and Human Rights Commission said it would be launching a formal probe into whether Labour unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimized people because they are Jewish. The party said it would fully cooperate with the investigation.

Defenders of Corbyn say the charges of anti-Semitism are politically motivated and stem from his long-standing support of Palestinian rights and criticism of Israeli government policies and Western imperialism.

In a statement to The Post, a Labour spokesman said the party is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and is implacably opposed to antisemitism in any form.

The spokesman also hit back at what the party views as Pompeos improper intervention in Britains democratic process. President Trump and his officials attempts to decide who will be Britains next prime minister are an entirely unacceptable interference in the UKs democracy, said the spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Pompeos private comments.

The publication of the remarks by Pompeo, which occurred during an off-the-record meeting, follow the public statements by Trump last week, speaking favorably of prime-ministerial contender Boris Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent, Trump told Britains Sun newspaper.

The remarks prompted a strong response from Corbyn, who said Trumps intervention was unacceptable.

The next prime minister should be chosen not by the U.S. president, nor by 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members, but by the British people in a general election, he said.

During his trip to Britain, Trump also met with Farage, a vocal skeptic of Prime Minister Theresa May whose Brexit Partys success during the European Parliament elections came at the expense of Mays Conservative Party. Nigels had a big victory, Trump said. He picked up 32percent of the vote starting from nothing, and I think they’re big powers over there. I think theyve done a good job.

Pompeo also addressed those elections in his private meeting, saying the Conservative Partys losses were stunning. The Tories finished fifth in Britain. If I had told you that even 90 days ago, youd have laughed me out of here, and youd have done so properly, Pompeo said. This is an absolute failure of leadership to demonstrate value.

A Conservative Party spokesman declined to comment.

Jeremy Shapiro, the director of research for the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the remarks by the president and Pompeo put Britains conservatives in a difficult position given the unpopularity of Trump in Britain.

This is a trap for Johnson or some other future Tory leader, Shapiro said. The combination of Trumps public support for Johnson and Pompeos behind-closed-doors attack on their main opposition leader risks creating the idea in the mind of the public that the Tories are American poodles, which will not serve them well in a future general election.

John Hudson is a national security reporter at the Washington Post covering the State Department and diplomacy.